That Damn Deer Girl
by MeishiMay
Summary: Daryl Dixon has never had an easy life throughout his childhood he constantly faced abuse from his family, but now in his adult life he faces a new threat. The undead. Daryl meets a young girl named Sophia Peletier and her mother Carol in the death filled hell they now call life. Will this young girl help Daryl learn to trust others? Or will she make him lose trust in even himself?
1. Alone

**Hello there reader! Welcome to my fanfiction! This is my first Walking Dead fanfic and first fanfic in general. I don't own the Walking Dead or any of its characters (I only made this story) all rights go to Robert Kirkman, and his talented team.**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia wandered through the forest cold, alone, and hungry. She thought of her mother. She had been right there with her on the highway, at least until a hoard of the flesh hungry undead came shambling through. She kicked a small stone as she walked.

" _Those stupid walkers they ruin everything"._ She thought bitterly.

When the walkers came though Rick, the leader of the group, yelled for everyone to hide under the abandoned cars littering the highway.

Sophia remembered lying on the hot tar, trying to hold still, but that was so hard. She could see her mother hiding under the car across from her. She wanted to be with her mother, she needed to be with her mother.

After she was sure all the walkers had past she had stuck her head out from under the safety of the car. But instead for seeing her mother's sweet face she was meet with a pair of rotting legs. She tried to retreat back under the car, but it was too late. The walker had seen her. It dropped to it's hands and knees. Sophia backed up as a pair of rotted, foul smelling arms reached towards her. She crawled out of the other side of the car as the first walker was joined by another.

As soon as she was freed she heard her mother call out, but Sophia didn't care in the moment. She ran. Her legs carried her away from the walkers, away from the highway, away from the group, away from her mother.

Sophia sighed coming to a rest against a tree. Sliding down it until she was sitting on the leafy ground.

" _Why'd I have to run? Why couldn't I have stayed under the car like I was told"? "This is all my fault"._

She drew her knees up to her chest and buried her blonde head into them feeling tears starting to fall. She didn't want to cry right now, but what other options did she have? She was alone in the woods with night fast approaching. Her chances of survival as a young girl alone weren't good.

After a while her racking sobs turned into shaking breaths as she slowly calmed herself down. She didn't know what to do now. The sun was going down and her mother's words of caution about the dark began to drift into her mind.

"Always be aware of the darkness. You never know what could be hiding under its cover". Carol had warned one night, as she put her daughter to bed.

"I know mom" Sophia smiled up at her mother's warm, inviting, face.

Looking into her mother's soft blue eyes, eyes like her own, made her feel safe. Like she was a small part of something bigger, something that would protect her.

"I love you my wise little owl". Carol said ruffling her short blonde hair.

"I love you too mom".

Seeing no other option Sophia got up, wiping the damp and dirt left from the ground off her pants, and began to shuffle along. She looked for any kind of landmark that could tell her where she is or even where she had come from. After hours of searching she found nothing, other than a river with a trail of footprints in the muddy bank. She deemed the tracks too large to be her own.

"Are you a walker or a person?" She wondered aloud, putting her sneaker in the large boot print to compare the sizes.

Sophia slipped her shoes and socks off and stood bare foot in the river, feeling the refreshing coldness splashing against her legs. She cupped some of the water in her hands and took a long slow drink. She could practically hear her mother's lecture about unsanitized water, but she was so parched from her day of running around that she didn't care.

A tingle of fear ran down her spine as she heard twigs snapping behind her. The small girl spun around to see a tall figure ambling in the brush. She squinted trying to make out its face in the darkening forest, but couldn't see any features that might tell her whether this visitor was living or dead.

Sophia started to shake and clutched her ragdoll tight . What would someone brave do in this situation?

" _What would Mr. Dixon do?"_

WWMDD. That was something she found herself wondering a lot in these scary situations that seem to have become somewhat of a daily occurrence. To her the hunter of the group, Daryl Dixon, was also the protector. Sure Rick was the leader and Dale gave the best advice, but she could see the way Daryl always seemed to be looking out for her and her mother out of the corner of his eye. Watching to make sure Ed would treat them right, not that he was a problem anymore.

She sucked in a deep breath, stopping her shaking, and gathered her courage. She drew herself up in an attempt to appear less afraid.

"Hello?" Sophia called. Her voice shook, betraying her confident stance.

The figure stopped and stood with its back turned to the girl. Sophia clambered out of the water and set her beloved doll next to her shoes, for safe keeping, she began to creep closer. She knew it was stupid to move closer without knowing if it was safe, but she was sick of being alone. And she really didn't want to spend the night on her own. Now she was only a few yards away and could tell whoever this was is male.

"S-sir?" Sophia whispered timidly, reaching out to tap the mans shoulder.

She suddenly drew her arm back as the man let out a low, rasping, moan. He turned to face the girl that had dared disturb him and let out another, louder, moan. Time seemed to stop as Sophia stood staring at the walkers disfigured face. Every shaking breath it took came from a jaw that had been unhinged, his tongue resting on his chest. His whole face look ripped up and torn apart. She doubted it could even see.

Time started again as the walker lunged forward. Sophia screamed and fell backwards into the river. She scrambled to her feet as she heard the sound of a body splashing into the water behind her. She clumsily made her way across the river, slipping on every stone. She let out a whimper as her bare foot came down hard on an extra sharp rock. Bright red blood swirled in the water as a hot stinging feeling ran up the injured foot. The smell of fresh blood drove Sophia's pursuer crazy. Sophia become more desperate to get away, as the walker become more desperate to get his meal.

Sophia grabbed the edge of the bank and hauled herself up onto the land. A cold hand wrapped around her long, slender, leg and tried to pull her back into the water. The frightened girl acted on instinct and lashed out. She began to kick and yell. Her foot landed a strong blow to the dead man's rotted head. His already hanging jaw came flying off. The walker fell back into the river with a splash, releasing his grip on his prey.

Sophia's foot sent waves of pain through her body as she ran. Small rocks and dirt pressed into her wound with every step, and worked their way under her skin. But she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. God knows what would happen if she did. She just ran and ran, not knowing if it was tree branches or walker arms tugging at her shirt.

The last rays of sun were sinking below the Georgian sky when the lost girl lost hope. She was forced to slow to a limping walk as her foot swelled up. She wandered blindly thinking of her mother, and all the other people she would never see again. The image of a lively looking boy with short brown hair crossed her mind. _Carl_.

Carl Grimes had been Sophia's rock through all of this. Her abusive past made it hard for her to connect with people, especially people her own age .Most kids would just shrug her uninterested attitude off as being shy or even rude. But Sophia was far from rude, and Carl knew that. He knew that she just needed someone willing to talk to her. Someone willing to take the time to break through her outer layer of fear and insecurity. Carl could make Sophia come out of her shell, and make her be who she was meant to be, not what her father made her into.

Her wandering brought her to a small abandoned house. She crept around the side of the house. On high alert for walkers after her earlier close call. She pushed open the creaking door, sending a shower of dust down onto herself. Coughing she stepped into the room looking around. Her eyes came to rest on a small cabinet. The door was unhinged, but it looked like it could still close. She figured it would be a safe and hidden place to spend the night.

Sophia curled her long thin frame into the small space. She examined her hurt foot in the fading light. Her skin felt tight and the cut was bigger than she originally thought. It was more of a gash, split open and dirt smeared from all her running. The skin around the wound turned a pale red color and felt softer than normal. Almost like one of Georgia's famous peaches.

"Not...good…" She whispered to herself, as she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

 **Thank for reading! New chapter soon~**


	2. The Hunter

**Hi everyone thanks for reading my story so far! Here's chapter two as promised!**

 **Enjoy~**

The rotted corpse of a woman shuffled her way through the forest. Her long pale legs dragged on the ground, skin catching and tearing on every small stick and stone. She worked her way towards her prey with animal like hunger. The walker became more and more excited as she drew near. Her already chapped lips split open as she let out a low growl.

The hunter stalked skillfully through the underbrush, keeping his icy blue eyes trained on his prey. Daryl slipped his crossbow off his back and aimed it at a sleek black crow perched in the tree above him. A sudden moan and the snapping of twigs caused Daryl's finger to slip and hit the trigger. The crow squawked in outrage and flied off into the morning sun as an arrow buried itself into the tree with a loud thunk.

"Fuckin' thing". The redneck growled as he pulled his arrow out of the tree.

The hunter spun around to see what had cost him his meal, and was met with the rotted face of what used to be a woman. She let out a low moan and reached out towards the startled man. Acting on instinct, Daryl grabbed the greying skin of her arm and pulled her forward. He drove the arrow in his hand through her soft skull as she fell forwards. The now truly dead walker dropped to the ground like a stone.

Daryl bent down beside the slain monster, and set to work looking for any sign of the thing he wanted to find more than some bird or animal. He was looking for a sign that would tell him if Sophia had run into this walker.

He had spent the better half of yesterday looking for the lost cub of the group. As soon as the sun rose he was up and out in the woods, searching tirelessly. He didn't know how long Sophia was capable of surviving on her own, but he doubted it was very long, seeing the way she acted at camp. Jumping at every little noise, spending every moment she could hidden away in her family's tent, avoiding as much human interaction as possible. When she was forced to go outside Daryl would often find her up in a tree, or even curled under the rv, reading a book.

Daryl stood wiping his blood covered hands on his jeans. He wasn't sure if he should feel good or bad about not finding anything on the walker. It told him that Sophia hadn't been caught, but at the same time it told him she might not be in this area. He looked up, shielding his eyes from the rising sun. He would find her before the day's end. He wouldn't let her spend another night alone.

...

Sophia woke up feeling the worst she ever had in her short life. Her head was pounding and a hot burning feeling was slowly spreading across her foot. She gingerly uncurled her small frame to get a good look at what was causing her pain. Drawing her leg up to her chest she could see that a green tinge had joined the aggressive red color of her wound. Pus gathered around the open skin forming a milky white dragged her thumb across the cu, trying to wipe it away. A searing pain ran all the way up her leg as soon as her thumb touched the infected area.

Sophia stifled a cry and fell back onto her bed of old shirts and towels. She closed her eyes and reached out for her ragdoll. The young girl's heart seized as her hand grasped at air. A sudden realization hit her.

" _I left Eliza back at the river"._

Sophia's eyes swam as she thought of her lost doll. Eliza was the only thing that kept her tethered to the group, but now she was gone, and Sophia felt truly alone. She was afraid that without her beloved doll she would forget about all the people they had lost. It had been a gift from the real Eliza Morales.

Sophia thought back to the days she would spend running around in the woods near the quarry with Eliza, playing tag and a number of other small games. It was a good thing they had going, one would cheer the other up by telling a joke or a story after a particularly long day.

Then came the night of the attack. She squeezed her eyes shut and shuddered at the memory of the massacre. The night had started out fun enough, Sophia had managed to avoid an encounter with her angry father, and she got to talk with Carl by the large bonfire.

Everyone was gathered by a large fire eating fish, and joking amongst themselves. Andrea's younger sister, Amy, had said something about needing to use the bathroom, and went to the rv.

"Seriously? We're out of toilet paper?" Amy called, appearing in the doorway to the rv.

"Toilet paper?" Carl said turning to Sophia "That reminds of this one time me a bunch of kids from school got together and tp this bully kids house!"

Sophia's soft blue eyes widened and shined with interest.

"Really?" She giggled. "Weren't you afraid of getting in trouble?"

"A little bit". Carl admitted, shrugging. "But he deserved it".

Sophia laughed at the thought of someone waking up one morning to find that their house had been covered in toilet paper. Carl smiled at the girl and joined in on the laughter.

"Kids, come on". Andrea said trying to stifle her own giggles. "Don't prank people".

It was perfect, even in the end of the world they could find reasons to laugh. The the moment of joy didn't last long though. A piercing scream cut through the cold evening air.

A sick feeling settled into the pit of Sophia's stomach as everyone around her froze. Another blood curdling scream sounded, this time the group could see where it had come from.

"Amy!" Andrea cried as she leapt up and raced towards the rv.

Everyone watched in horror as Amy had her neck and arm ripped open by two walkers that had been hiding behind the rv. How long had then been there? Sophia couldn't speak, she couldn't move, all she could do was stare with her breath caught in her throat.

"Come on!"

She was snapped back to reality by Carl's hand wrapping around her wrist as he tugged her to her feet. The two kids ran towards their parents as more of the undead shuffled from the woods to invade their camp.

"Carl, Sophia!"

The roar of gunfire exploded over the screams of other survivors, desperate to get away from the attacking walkers, as Carl and Sophia ran into their parents protective embraces. The last thing Sophia remembered from that night was being herded into a car with Carl, and being told to keep her head down. She felt Carl grasp her hand as he whispered calming things.

The next morning, after a long sleepless night, the survivors of the attack could see the damage that had been done. Several people Sophia didn't know had been killed. In fact, she was only able to recognise Amy and an older mechanic named Jim. But to the young girl her biggest loss was Eliza and her family. The Morales didn't die, but her mother felt the need to go find the other members of their family.

"Take care of her, and never forget me, okay?"

Eliza pushed her old ragdoll into Sophia's shaking arms.

"Okay". She whispered through tears as she clutched to doll close to her chest.

Sophia let out a sob and pulled a moldy towel out of her makeshift bed, and hugged it as close as she had hugged her doll. She laid in the dusty cabinet and cried, but she wasn't crying for herself, she was crying for for those they had lost that night. She cried for Amy, she cried for Andrea, for Jim, for the people who went unnamed, for the Morales, and for her beloved doll.

Sophia cried until she heard the sound of foot steps outside the house.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	3. Stranger Danger

_**Welcome back to my story! Be warned that it does get a little M rated here, don't worry to much though, it's only implied themes. Anyway,**_

 _ **Enjoy~**_

 _Thud, thud, thud._

Sophia sniffed and halted her crying. She lifted her head trying to make out the sound just heard.

 _Thud, thud, thud._

There it was again! She felt her heart start to beat faster. What could that noise be? Was it an animal? Maybe a walker? A person? Her heart thudded painfully as she thought about a member of the group being just yards away.

 _Knock, knock, knock._

Sophia nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a knock on the old wooden door of the ancient building. She quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes, and scrambled out of the small cabinet to meet whoever was knocking on the door. Her foot throbbed painfully as she crossed the cold floor boards.

"Hello?" Sophia called softly as she neared the door.

The knocking stopped for a moment.

"Hi". Came a muffled voice from the other side.

The voice was distorted just enough that she couldn't make out if it was the voice of someone she knew. She had been warned all her life about stranger danger and to never open the door for someone she didn't know. But this had to be an exception… right?

" _Whoever this is already knows I'm in here…."_ Sophia thought, planning her next move.

She took a deep breath and brushed the dried dirt and mud off her shirt. She reached forward with a shaking hand and turned the door knob.

"Well hello there little lady".

Sophia was meet with the figure of a large man as he stood in the doorway smiling down at her. Her heart raced as she realized this wasn't someone she knew. All she could do was stare up at the man with a blank face.

"I seem to be having some trouble with my car".

Something about this man, and the way he smiled, put Sophia on edge. She looked into his dark brown eyes. Eyes managed to be empty yet wild at the same time. Eyes like her father's.

"Could your do you have someone that could lend a hand? Or are you by your self?" He asked in a tone so low it sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"Um, yeah my dad's here. He's just sleeping". Sophia lied hoping to deter this man from whatever he was trying to do.

She had always been a good liar, it was how she avoided teachers and councillors that 'just wanted to help' wet always managed to make things worse. She didn't use her lying skill very often, but something about this man wasn't right and she didn't want him to know she was alone.

"I'll go get him". Sophia said trying to shut the door.

Before the door was fully shut the man stuck his booted foot in the doorway, forcing it back open.

"What's your name little lady?"

"Samantha". She lied once again, thinking back to her 5th grade best friend.

"That's a pretty name". He replied putting his hand on the doorframe.

"You know you remind me of someone. This young girl we have back at our camp. She's very pretty, like you".

"R-really?" Sophia stuttered as she tried to shut the door again.

"Really". He said tightening his grip on the doorframe. "Why don't you came back to camp with me and meet her?"

The man reached his free hand out and stroked the child's face. She took a step back as alarm bells sounded in her mind. She shifted her weight between her good and injured foot, the burning feeling was way past her ankles now. She needed to find away out of this situation.

"Okay! Let me just wake my dad, he can fix your car then we can go". Sophia lying through her teeth at this point. "He's a hunter so he can bring his gun and help collect some food for you guys".

She was amazed by how calm she sounded out the outside, considering the fact that on the inside she was having a full blown panic attack. The man seemed drew his arm back suddenly as she spoke.

"Uh, no that's okay. Let him sleep". He muttered in a disappointed tone of voice. "I'll come back some other time".

Sophia shut the door as the man stalked off. She pulled back one of the heavy velvet curtains and watched the man break into a sprint and disappear into the trees. Her blood turned to ice as two men, one holding a rope and the other a knife, lept out of the bushes and followed the creeper into the woods.

" _I'll come back some other time"._

Sophia knew this house was no longer safe. She slipped down from the window sill and set to work searching the house for anything she could take with her. She pulled a roll of bandages out of a bathroom cabinet. She wrapped the bandage around her now swollen foot. Her foot still ached as she tested it on the tile floor of the bathroom, but it felt a little better than it had before.

She sighed as she pulled an old backpack of coat hook. Whoever had lived here before must have been some kind of camper she thought as she sorted through assorted pieces of broken tools and used foods wrappers.

Tomorrow she would set out and her group, or at the very least a new shelter.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	4. Angel or Ghost?

**Welcome back to my story! Now before we start I just want to give a small warning about a few scenes. Nothing too bad just some gross descriptions of a flesh wound. Anyways,**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl's muscles felt stiff and sore. He sat up, brushing the leaves out of his hair, as the cold air nipped at his skin. The hunter stood and looked around. The normally busy farm looked almost completely empty.

" _How long was I out?"_ He thought to himself. _"Damn it"._

He had only meant to take a small rest for his eyes, not spend the whole day sleeping outside. He needed to be out there looking for Sophia. To him with every day that passes the young girl's chances of survival goes down.

Daryl spotted Herschel sitting on the front porch of the farm house cleaning his rifle. He made his way over to the old man. The hunter knew he needed to be careful with his words. Everyone was on thin ice with Hershel Greene after Shane opened his barn.

Hershel had been very clear not to open the barn, but after finding out about the walkers he housed in there Shane took it upon himself to kill all of the living dead on the property, including the old man's own wife and kid.

The only reason the group had been allowed to stay was so they would have a place to stay while they looked for Sophia, but the moment she was found Hershel had made it clear that they were to leave and never come back.

"Hey". Daryl said in a voice raspy from sleeping.

"Hello". Hershel responded, not looking up from the gun in his lap.

"Got any idea where anyone is?" The hunter asked, taking another look around.

"No I don't _have_ any idea where the others are". He huffed, "Except for my own family".

Had it been any other person on any other occasion Daryl would have decked him for correcting his english, but he couldn't risk getting the group kicked out of this place. What if Sophia need medical care? Daryl could only dress field wounds, but he wouldn't be able to give her medicine or proper care like Hershel could. So he bit his tongue and stalked off the porch.

The hunter made his way across the property to grab his cross bow. He needed to get back into the woods and continue his search. He opened the door to his truck and began to root around the back seat.

"There you are".

Daryl sling the cross bow across his shoulders, and closed the car door. He was ready to go out once more, this time he felt more determined than ever to bring the lost lamb home.

"Are you going out again?"

Daryl jumped at the sound of the soft voice behind him. He turned to see Carol staring at him with intense blue eyes.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

The hunter didn't get scared. He was merely startled by her sudden appearance in the seemingly vacant farm. Carol had a habit of appearing from nowhere almost like a ghost.

" _Like an angel"._ Daryl thought before he could stop himself.

"You didn't scare me". He Huffed, readjusting the strap on his shoulder. "And yeah, I'm going out".

"Why don't you take a break today?" Carol asked in a voice just above a whisper.

"What? Don't you want me to find your little girl?" Daryl questioned in a sharp tone.

"O-of course! It's just that you've done more for Sophia in a few days, then her daddy's done in her whole life". She breathed. "Someone else can go out today".

Daryl met Carol's gaze. His sharp blue eyes staring into her soft blue eyes, as he took in what she just said. Why did he feel so compelled to find Sophia? She wasn't his daughter and he didn't owe Carol anything, but at the same time he felt like he owed her everything, for reasons he couldn't even explain to himself.

"I'm fine". Daryl muttered, turning away from Carol and his thoughts. "I'll be back later".

"Be safe!" Carol called out, as the hunter disappeared into the tree line.

…

Sophia stumbled through the forest, struggling to keep her balance on her injured foot. Wrapping the foot up in some old bandages seemed like a good idea in the moment, but now she could feel blood and pus pooling in the wound.

" _This sucks"._ She thought glumly.

That old house had been a sanctuary to her, and now because of one slip up she was right back to square one. Wandering until someone finds her. Sophia had never been very religious, but she prayed to God that whoever found her was from her own group, and not that creeper or his friends.

"Creeper and co." Sophia muttered to herself, in an attempt to lighten her mood.

And it worked, for a moment she was laughing. She didn't know why such a stupid joke was so funny right now. Maybe she was more exhausted than she thought? She clicked her dry tongue against the roof of her mouth. It was time to take a break.

She sighed and flopped down onto a fallen tree. Taking deep breaths she reached for the bangade clasp, bracing herself for what she was about to see. Pulling back the blood soaked bandage revealed the cut had widened as a result of all the walking. A red and green tinge was now working its way up her spindly leg towards her calf. She recoiled at the smell of dead skin and pus. She felt so tired and her foot hurt so much.

"This is really bad". Sophia said, wincing as she squeezed her swollen foot.

Sophia dug a watter bottle of the backpack and took a long slow drink, before pouring some on her wound. She hissed through clenched teeth and wondered if this was the right way to clean her foot. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a low rasping moan.

" _No no! Not now! Any time but now!"_ Sophia thought wildly as she scanned her surroundings.

Sophia's heart seized as a walker stumbled into view. It turned its hairless head to look at her and the bloody rag she held in her hands.

" _It smelled my blood"._ She thought in horror.

The walker let out another, louder, moan and was soon joined by two more of the undead. The way they looked at her was enough to freeze her in place. The first walker started to amble towards the girl.

"Stay- stay away from me!" Sophia yelled, leaping up from the tree.

She shoved the bandage in her shorts pockets and grabbed the backpack. The strap snagged on the bark of the tree, and resistant her pull. She looked up to see the walkers were now moving faster, and were only yards away. The pack came loose with one final tug ripping open and spilling cans and bottles all over the ground.

Sophia picked up a can of peaches and tried to shove it back into the ripped bag. She looked up at the sound of an eager moan. The walkers were no more than five feet away. Panicking she hucked the can in her hands at the nearest walker. It connected with its soft skull with a sickening thud. The corpse dropped to the ground with glossed over eyes. The other two walkers seemed more interested in the body for a moment, and Sophia took this as her chance to escape.

She ran through the woods, frantic thoughts pushing out the pain signals coming from her foot. She just killed a walker. She felt sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, but at the same time she felt a strange sense of pride. She thought of what her mother would say. Sophia was useful now, she could kill walkers like Rick or Carl.

" _Like Daryl"._

Sophia came to a small hill covered in dead leaves. Using the low hanging branches of nearby trees to pull herself up. When she reached the top she was surprisingly out of breath, she really needed to rest soon. She stood looking out over the Georgia woods. From a break in the tree line Sophia could see a highway.

" _It can't be"._

Sophia squinted at the cars littering the road, and her heart skipped a beat. This wasn't just any highway, this was the highway! The place she had been separated from the group. Separated from her mother.

She took a deep breath and started off towards the road.

" _I'll be home soon mama"._ She thought with new hope.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	5. Sneakers

**It's fanfiction time once again! Sorry for the wait!**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl tropmed his way through the thick mud, His sharp eyes scanned the horizon as he worked his way towards the river. He shrugged his crossbow off his shoulder, casting it aside on the bank, as he untied the string of dead squirrels from his belt. Unsheathing a large hunting knife he set to work skinning and cleaning the small animals.

Herschel was strict about messes in the house, leading Daryl to clean most of his kills out in the woods to avoid another stern talking to about blood stains and death smell. He sat letting his mind wander as he gutted the animal with quick precision. What would he do when he found Sophia? Would he find Sophia? What if she was bitten? What if she was-

Daryl was yanked from his thoughts by familiar groaning sound. He looked up from his job, and spotted a walker hunched over something a few yards down the bank. How long had the walker been there?

The hunter stood, wiping blood on his jeans, and made his way over to his new company. He raised the large knife as he approached the rotting exhuman. He could hear every shaky breath, every nash of teeth, as it tore into its unfortunate prey. Daryl wondered what poor animal had meet its fate as he plunged his knife into the walkers soft skull.

The corpse fell forward in a heap. Daryl pushed the newly dead body aside to get a look at what the walker had managed to catch. He was surprised to find it wasn't an animal at all! It was a white sneaker, he turned the shoe over in his hand perplexed.

"Sophia?" Daryl whispered, breaking into a cold sweat.

His head started to spin. What happened to her? How did this walker get her shoe? Had she been caught? Had she been killed?

He took another look around, searching for anything that might give him the answer to his questions. His heart punched his chest as his eyes came to a rest on a muddy doll at the edge of the river. The hunter's mind went numb. Sophia would never leave her doll behind.

" _She's dead"._ A voice in the back of his head whispered before he could stop it.

He felt a mix of rage and sadness as he yanked the doll out of the mud. He had failed, he had failed Sophia, he had failed Carol, and he had failed himself. Hot tears welled up in his blue eyes at the thought of the news he would now have to break to the group, to Carol.

Daryl wiped a tear on his hand and stared at it for what felt like hours. It took a lot to make the hunter cry, It had been years since he last felt the sensation of tears rolling down the skin on his cheek.

Gripping the discarded doll tightly in his large hand he turned and headed back towards the farm. He completely forgot about the squirrels he had been preparing as he disappeared into the tree line.

…

Sophia approached the highway with butterflies in her stomach. The excitement she felt in this moment far surpassed the pain of her infected foot. She slipped and slided on the lose ground as she ran. She was so close! She was almost home! Home with the others!

The moment her feet in the warm, paved, road she looked around for the familiar white of Dales rv. She felt her excitement dissolve as the pain returned to her foot. There was no rv, there weren't even any other working cars on the road, the group had left her behind. Sophia hobbled over to a lone blue car, careful not to put much weight on her right foot. Unnecessary running had been a mistake.

As she drew closer Sophia could make out words, spray painted in white, across the cracked windshield.

"Sophia stay here. We will come back everyday". She read the note aloud.

The group hadn't left her behind! They we still looking! Sophia surveyed the cans and bottles lined up along the hood of the car. She cracked open a bottle of water and sat down against the car.

Her relaxation didn't last long, as a walker stumbled into view. The young girl slowly stood up and laced her fingers around the blue car's door handle. Holding her breath she gave it a slight tug. It opened with the slightest creak, but even that didn't go unnoticed by the hungry monster. Sophia ducked into the car just was the walker's head snapped towards her.

She let out a sigh of relief and sprawled herself across the leather seating, welcoming the cold shiver that ran down her spine. Sophia realized she had barely had any time to sleep in the past few days. After a quick nap she'd take a walk down the highway, and try to find the others.

"But for now sleep". She muttered as she drifted off.

 **New chapter soon! Feel free to review! Thanks for reading~**


	6. Just a Doll

**New chapter! I've felt so motivated recently (as this is being uploaded I'm typing the next chapter). Little bit of angst in this one sooooooooo**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl approached the farm with his thoughts racing a mile a minute. What was he going to tell Carol? How was he going to explain he had failed? He curled and uncurled his large fingers around the doll. He hadn't bothered to bring the shoes back, it would only help Carol picture the horrible way her child had died. The moment Daryl set foot on the property Andrea came rushing up to greet him.

"Hey, something happened". She stated in an urgent voice.

The hunter's heart stopped. His first thought was that something bad had happened to Carol.

" _Why hadn't I been here. Why-"_

"Carls been shot". Andrea interrupted his thoughts.

"Again!?" Daryl blurted before he could stop himself.

The group had only managed to find Herschel's farm on account of Carl being shot by the old man's farmhand, Otis. Herschel had been a vet prior to the spread of the virus, and was the only one capable of digging the bullet out of the young boy's chest.

"Yes again". Andrea hissed in a sharp tone.

"By who?" Daryl questioned.

"Some ass in the tree line. We didn't get a good look at whoever the hell it was". She explained, the urgency reentered her voice.

"Damn it". He muttered.

If the farm was no longer safe they were screwed. They didn't need the area to search for Sophia anymore, but now Carl was too injured to move.

"Andrea!"

The two turn to see Glenn waving Andrea over to barn.

"I have to go take overwatch duty". She muttered as she walked away. "Gonna get this asshole when they come back".

Daryl sighed and scanned the area for Carol. He had some of his own bad news to break. He spotted the shaved headed woman hanging wet clothes on a line to dry. The hunter shoved Sophia's doll into his jacket pocket, and walked towards her.

"I've got some bad news". Daryl said in a gruff voice, struggling to keep his face from showing his sadness.

"I know Carl's been shot again. It's it awful". Carol replied as she continued to hang clothes.

"It's not that". He said softly, pulling the doll out of his pocket.

"What do you mean-"

Carol stopped dead in her tracks as her soft eyes fell on the ratted doll in Daryl's hand.

"Wha?" She whispered.

Her delicate fingers reached out and brushed Eliza's cloth face. Tears began to spill out of eyes.

"What does this mean?". Carol asked in desperation.

Daryl stared down into her watery blue eyes. He could only imagine the pain she was going through, the pain of losing a loved one. The pain he had felt when he learned that his brother, Merle, had been left behind in Atlanta.

"I found a walker tearing apart one of Sophia's shoes. I found the doll near by". Daryl explained with an uncharacteristic gentleness.

"Her body?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"What?"

"Did you find her body?" She questioned firmly.

"Well no I-"

"Then she's alive!" Carol interrupted with a sudden raise of voice.

"Carol". Daryl said softly.

"She probably just dropped her doll in an escape".

"The walker had her shoe". He reasoned.

"I don't care! My baby girl is alive! She has to be."

"She's dead Carol". The hunter stated as he looked into her face.

Carol threw the shirt she was holding to the ground. Her normally soft face contorted in anger.

"You don't know that!" She snapped in a new, harsh, tone.

"She's dead!" Daryl snapped back before he knew what he was saying.

"What gives you the right to say that! Sophia's stronger than any of us here! She's Lived through hell since she was a baby!" She yelled, "You found a doll! A goddamn doll! That means nothing!"

"Look I know how it feels to lose someone you care about". He said trying to calm the mood.

"You have know idea what I feel like! I lost a child! You lost your scumbag, drug addict, brother!" Carol screamed before she could stop herself.

Carol's hands flew to her mouth as Daryl took a step back. Those words hit him like a slap across the face. The two were starting to attract the attention of the other group members. Ricks wife, Lori, came bustling out of the house to see what all the yelling was about.

"What the hell is going on out here?" She demanded.

Carol wiped the tears away from her face.

"I'm sorry. I'm-" Her voice broke as she turned and ran away towards the barn.

Daryl considered running after her as he felt hot tears well up in his eyes. He took a deep breath and held back the water works. No one had ever seen him cry, and he sure as hell wasn't going start with these people.

"What happened?" Rick asked, walking up beside Lori.

"I'm goin' out". Daryl muttered.

He tossed Sophia's doll to Rick. Daryl didn't want to see this piece of crap right now. It just reminded him of his failure.

"Put this thing somewhere".

The hunter stalked back into the woods leaving Rick, and everyone else, Perplexed and startled. Maybe there was something he missed? The more he thought about it, the less an abandoned doll and shoes ment she was dead. He would try again, and retrace his steps. Even if it meant going all the way back to the highway where this all started.

 **New chapter very soon! Feel free to leave a veiw!**

 **Thanks for reading~**


	7. Found

**Hello everybody welcome to a new chapter! Thanks for your support in my story so far. Sorry this took so long to upload.**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia groaned and peeled her blue eyes open. She sat up wiping the sweat off her brow. The late afternoon sun glared through the car window heating the leather seats like an oven. She cracked the door open with small grunt, her muscles felt stiff and weak. She welcomed the rush of fresh air as she sat back against the seat.

Sophia looked around, blinking, as she tried to focus her gaze. Something didn't feel quite right, her vision was slightly blurry, and she had a small, sharp, pain at the base of her neck.

Her head suddenly snapped in the direction of a loud engine. Fear gripped her heart as she stared into the horizon ahead of her. The young girl's mind raced with possibilities. Was it the creep from the house? Just another survivor? Someone from the group? She mustered up her courage and fully opened the car door.

" _What would Mr. Dixon do? What would do?"_

She knew exactly what would do, he would fight. Sophia lept out of the car, and scurried over to a green minivan. She popped open the trunk and dug around for something, anything, she could use as a weapon. She pulled a large tool box out from under a pile of old coats. Her cold fingers fiddled with the latch for a moment before clicking it open.

The only things in the rusty box were a screwdriver and a wrench. Sophia picked up the wrench and held it in a shaky hand. She had killed a walker before, but never a person. After a night of particularly rough contact with her father she had vowed to never lay a finger on anyone, no matter what. She couldn't bare the thought of inflicting pain onto another living being.

" _What if you like it?"_ A small voice asked from the darkest corner of her mind.

Sophia shuddered at the thought. To her the only thing was than causing pain, was liking pain. She broke out in a cold sweat as fear gripped her heart. The fear of the approaching engine, but also the fear of becoming her father.

" _I'm a part of him"._ The voice whispered once more.

"But I'm also a part of her". Sophia stated aloud.

Whenever she had thoughts about being destined to be like her dad she always would think about her mother, and how much of a kind soul she is.

Sophia was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of rubber tires running along the hot tar, it was now or never. She clenched her weapon, and dived into the brush that lines the highway.

…

Daryl readjusted his grip on the motorcycle's throttle. His eyes stung with the speed that the wind hit them. He couldn't stop thinking about what Carol had said. It was true that his brother was a drug addict, but he wasn't a scumbag, no one knew him like Daryl did. No one new the real Merle Dixon.

He speed up trying to forget about the incident. Carol was hurting, they all were, she just needed some time. He would make a quick sweep of the highway and the surrounding woods, then head back to camp to talk to Carol. As angry as he was with her words, he couldn't bare the thought of losing her company.

Daryl brought the motorcycle down to a crawl as he weaved his way through abandoned cars. He rode past the blue car they had set up for Sophia. He came to a full stop when he saw that the door was open, and a few supplies were missing. The hunter turned his head around and scanned the area, someone had been here. He restarted the bike, and continued on his way.

"Sophia!" He called over the roar of the engine, "You here girly?"

A sudden blur struck Daryl on the side, and knocked him to the ground. The hot tar scrapped Daryl's back as he flew across the road. The large bike clattered down next to him.

"Son of a-" He hissed picking himself up.

He growled in frustration as he looked at his now raw arm. The road has peeled away the skin on his left arm, from his elbow to wrist. Great, road rash was just what he needed right now.

A glint by his downed bike caught his eye. He bent down and picked up a metal wrench. How the hell did this get out here?

"Oh no! Mr. Dixon I'm so so sorry!"

Daryl turned to see Sophia stumble out of the brush behind him. He stared in disbelief at her, she looked horrible. A combination of mud and blood was smeared on her face and clothes, she was barefoot with hole ripped in her shirt and pants.

"Sophia?" He asked with uncertainty.

Something about this just didn't feel real. That he would just happen to stumble upon the girl he spent a week looking for.

"I'm s-sorry". The weak girl stammered once again as she peered up at Daryl through matted hair.

"It's alright". The hunter respond. "I'm actually a little impressed to be honest. I didn't think you could defend yourself".

Sophia stood for a moment thinking about what he just said. She was conflicted about whether to be proud at the complement or offended by the insult. She chose to be proud and straightened up a little.

"Thanks...". She said in a voice just above a whisper.

Daryl took notice in the way her voice seemed to give out at the end. She was definitely more than fatigued. He needed to get her back to the farm as soon as he could.

"Is my mom….." She began before she trailed off.

"She's okay". Daryl reassured her with a smile, well his best attempt at a smile at least.

He was amazed with how quickly her tired face lit up with delight. Seeing the smiling face of the young girl let him know that all his searching was more than worth it. He started to walk towards her, but stopped when she took a unconscious step back. Sophia had always been wary of men, and sometimes even boys. To most men were people that protected and provided, but to Sophia men were people that would hurt and touch you in the wrong places.

Daryl took notice of her body language, and stepped back. He had a thought that she might be hard to approach after all her time alone, surviving on running and being jumpy. The hunter just had to think of approaching her the way he would think of approaching an animal. Sophia was like a deer, the smallest wrong move would send her running, and god forbid she gets into a situation where escape is impossible. Daryl decided to let her come to him.

"Let's get back now. We ain't got all day".

He turned his back towards her and started to walk down the road. He looked over his shoulder to see if the ragged girl was following him. She was slowly ambling along behind him, he could see she was favoring her right foot over her left.

"You okay kid?"

Sophia nodded silently before a perplexed look crossed her face.

"Kid? Shit!"

Sophia felt her legs buckle under her. Daryls panicked swearing as the last thing she heard before the ground rushed up to meet her.

Authors note: Once again sorry this took so long to get up. I wasn't satisfied with it at first, so I held it back to do some rewriting. Anyways I hope to get on a schedule, and have a new chapter out every Friday.

 **Thanks for reading! If you liked this chapter feel free to, follow favorite, or review.**

 **New chapter soon~**


	8. The Return

**Welcome back to the story! Hope you enjoy~**

Carol paced around in the cool evening air, biting at her thumb nail. Her mind raced with thoughts about Daryl and Sophia. How could Sophia be dead? How could she have said that to Daryl? How could she have-

"Are you still out here?"

The worried mothers thoughts were interrupted by the words of yet another worried mother. Carol stopped her pacing, and turned to face Lori.

"It's cold out. You should come inside". Lori said.

"Not until Daryl comes back". Carol stated looking out at the woods ahead.

"You catching a cold isn't gonna make him come back". Rick's wife quipped.

Carol narrowed her eyes and scoffed. This was no time to joke.

"Look" Lori sighed, "I know how you feel right now. I'm worried sick about Carl".

There it was again, someone saying they knew what she was going through, knew how she felt, but in truth no one knew how she felt. She had lost her husband, even if he was a dirt bag, and daughter in less than a month. Lori hadn't lost anybody. Carl wasn't dead, in fact Herschel said he should make a full recovery.

Carol took a deep breath and just simple nodded. She wouldn't have a repeat of what happened with Daryl earlier today. Lori slipped her warm hand into Carol's cold one.

"Come inside".

Carol nodded once more, and walked towards the house with Lori.

"Hey! Come help!"

Carol pulled out of Loris grip and turned towards the frantic shouting. Her heart jumped into her throat when she saw Daryl come running up the property. She squinted trying to make out what he was carrying. Her heart seized when she saw the small outline of a child, of her child.

"Go get Herschel". The mother commanded.

Lori nodded feebly and ran back towards the farmhouse. Carol took off across the large property towards Daryl. Her breath came out in small gasps with every step she took.

" _My baby's back. She's really back"_. Was all she could think as she drew near.

Daryl feel to his knees, gasping for air, when she reached him. She dropped down in front of him, and brushed Sophia's dirty hair away from her face. Her face was pale and her eyes were shut tight.

"What's wrong with her!" Carol cried feeling hot tears spring to her eyes, "Was she bit!?"

"Not sure" Daryl gasped, " I found her on the side of the highway. The moment she stepped towards me she collapsed".

The mother felt a wave of stress and nausea hit her. Sophia was never fond of being touched or picked up, especially by men, so her mind definitely wasn't in the right place. She feared the absolute worse as she stared down at her daughter's limp, broken, body.

"Where's the girl?"

"Right here". Daryl grunted as he stood up.

Carol watched carefully as Hershel dropped to his knees, and placed his old hand on Sophia's forehead. She watched her freckled face scrunch up in discomfort at the touch.

"We need to get her inside now". The vet stated standing up.

"Why!? Is she okay?" Carol asked as the panic in her mind took over logic.

She imaged hundreds of different scenarios of what was to come if her child had been bit. Every outcome was horrible and painful in its own right.

"Far from it". He answered, "She has a fever. A pretty bad one at that".

Daryl's breath caught in his throat, a fever was one of the first signs of infection. He couldn't imagine having spent all the time looking, all that time reassuring Carol that everything would be okay, only to find her at death's door.

"Bring her into the house". Hershel said as he walked away, "I'll go get a bed ready".

Daryl lifted himself up with a groan. Carol moved closer to try and take Sophia from his arms.

"I got it". He huffed.

Carol studied him for a moment before she reached out, and laced her hand in her daughters.

…

Carl sat in his soft bed reading from a book about football. The boy had always been found of the sport. The book brought back memories of staying up late with his dad watching the Bulldogs play the Gators.

"See that pass" Rick said with his eyes on the tv, "He shouldn't have done that".

"I'm gonna play nfl some day". Carl stated with pride.

"Keep those grades up, and you can do whatever you darn well please". His father replied as he tussled his hair.

That was one of his favorite memories. It gave him the best feeling he had ever felt in his short life knowing that his father supported him in doing whatever he wanted.

The boy sighed and flipped the page absentmindedly. It was nice that they were living in some form of peace and quiet, but being bedridden was something Carl was having trouble with. Like any other kid the boy just wanted to go ran around and rough house with glenn and his father. However he couldn't do anything until the bullet wound in his right shoulder healed.

Carl looked up as the door to his makeshift bedroom suddenly flew open. Hershel came bustling into the room and started laying blankets out on the empty bed next to him. Next Carol and Daryl came hurrying into the room. Carl could see that Daryl was carrying something small wrapped up in a sheet.

" _It can't be"._ He thought with excitement.

Daryl carefully laid the bundle out on the freshly made bed. The boy watched as the hunter pulled back the sheet to reveal a fragile looking Sophia. Carls excitement subsided as he took in the full view of his best friends tattered form. Already slender to begin with, she looked like she had lost about ten pounds in the woods. He took notice of her pale skin and chapped lips, she looked like a walker.

The thought of his best friend in the whole world turning into a walker terrified Carl. Little did Sophia know she was just as much of a rock to Carl as he was to her. He couldn't lose his rock.

"What's wrong with Sophia?" He asked in a weak voice.

Carol turned to Carl and gave him a look that managed to be sympathetic yet pitiful at the same time.

"She's a little sick right now". She informed him as she stroked her daughter's hair.

Carl felt panic bury its way into his cheats. He had heard the same thing floating around the quarry after Jim had been bitten.

"Sophia got bit?" He asked fearfully.

"I hope not". Carol said turning her full attention towards the girl.

"Look kid all we know is that she ain't doin' so well". Daryl explained, "We haven't seen a bite yet".

The 'yet' echoed in Carls mind, so there was still a chance? 

"Yet?" He heard his small voice ask.

"Yes yet" Hershel responded, "Now I need to work".

Daryl and Carol were ushered out of the from, and out into the hallway.

"God I'm so scared!" Carol cried bursting into tears.

"I don't think she's bit". Daryl stated.

"Y- you don't?" She asked.

"No. I think your little girl just spent too much time running without enough sleep. If anything I'd say she has exhaustion". He said.

"But what about her fever?"

Daryl turned the question over in his mind. He chose his next words carefully, he didn't want to cause her to panic.

"She was, and probably still is under a lot of stress. Combine that with the heat outside".

"Yeah, yeah you're right". She sighed, "Look I'm so, so sorry about what I said to you. It was horrible of me".

Daryl shifted his feet and scratched the back of his neck. He had never been good at dealing with emotions or apologise.

"It's fine". He muttered.

"No! No! It's not!" She yelled more to herself than Daryl.

Carol buried her face into her hands to try and hide the warm tears that fell down her cheeks. Daryl ran his hand through his greasy hair and sighed. Truth was he was still angry about the comments she had made about his older brother, but being angry would get them nowhere with two injured kids, after all blind anger is what got Merle left handcuffed to a roof in Atlanta.

"Look it ain't your fault, your kid was missing. It's natural to be upset".

Carol sniffed and looked up at the man. She slowly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. The two stood in silence for a moment before the hunter was nearly knocked off his feet by the women's delicate frame slamming into him. Carol wrapped her arms around Daryl's wais in a thigh hug. He could feel every shaky breath she took as she tried to even her breathing. The hunter stiffened and turned bright red in response to the sudden contact. His brain slowly caught up to his actions and he awkwardly wrapped his arms around Carol, and returned the embrace.

The pairs exchange was interrupted by the door opening behind them. Hershel stepped out, wiping his hands on a small towel.

"How is she?" Carol asked as she pulled out of the hug.

"She doesn't have a bite, but she does have an open wound on the sole of her left foot". The vet informed them.

"How'd that happen?" Carol asked.

"Well judging by how dirty her feet are, and the fact that she doesn't have shoes on, I'd say she stepped on something sharp". He said.

"Wait she didn't have shoes?" She asked.

"Oh, um, I found those by the creek where I found the doll". Daryl said.

"Why didn't you bring them back?" Carol questioned.

"I thought it would be hard for you to see". The hunter admitted.

"Your sweat".

Daryl blushed and turned away. Another thing he wasn't good at dealing with was compliments, he just didn't know how to take them.

"I'm gonna suggest bed rest and antibiotics. Does she have any allergies or medical conditions?". Hershel asked cutting through the exchange once again.

"Sophia has asthma". She answered.

The old man nodded and pulled out a small pad and a pencil. He scribbled something down and looked up again.

"For now I'm just gonna let her rest". He said.

"Wait! I want to see her". Carol said.

"You can later, but not now. We don't want to excite her right now". Hershel explained.

"Come on" Daryl said putting his hand on Carol's shoulder, "Let's go take a walk or somethin. Some fresh air will be good".

The woman sighed and nodded.

"Okay".

Daryl lead the way down the hall, out of the house, and across the yard. He figured it wouldn't hurt to groom the horses. after all there was nothing they could do to help Sophia now, she was in Hershel's care now.

Unknown to them a man sat, crouched in a tall tree, watching and waiting. He smiled at the people he saw, a hick and punching bag grooming horses, an asian kid and a black man playing cards, and lastly a pig and a cuball cleaning their guns. There sense of peace was fun to observe, it was cute that they thought there were safe. His smile split into a manic grin, he would have them soon.

AN: Thank you all for reading and reviewing this story so far. You can all start to expect more character interactions, some sad but many funny, and overall better story telling now that Sophia's back with the group. If you have any suggestions or theories feel free to share.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	9. Night Sickness

**Welcome back to my story! There's an important author's note at the end of this chapter. Anyway,**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia ran through the city as fast as she could. The moans and groans of the pursuing walkers filled her ears. She saw an abandoned building with an open door just ahead. The girl decided to test her luck, and ran inside. She crouched down next to the door, and out of view, just as a hoard of walkers shambled by. Sophia sighed in relief, but that relief didn't last long as a walker lurched out of the dark. She screamed as the walker sunk its rotted into her thin arm. Her screams turned to pained death throes as her skin as slowly stripped away from her body. More of the undead flooded into the crumbling building, eager to get a piece of fresh meat. The world around Sophia went dark as she lifelessly slumped forward into the hungry horde.

Carl watched in horror as the body next to him started to shake and moan. Hershel hadn't seen a bite mark on Sophia, only the gash on her foot, but what if there was a bite somewhere he couldn't see? The boy reached over and grabbed his book of the nightstand. He didn't want to hurt Sophia, but if she attacked… Carl snapped to attention as his friend screamed.

Sophia bolted upright in bed with her chest heaving. Carl could see thin beads of sweat that ran down her face as she struggled to breathe in the dark. He felt slightly reviled at the sound of her labored breath, as far as he knew walkers couldn't hyperventilate.

Light flooded the room as the door flew open. Daryl rushed into the room, followed close by a concerned looking Carol.

"What's going on!" He asked.

Carl noticed the butcher's knife in his hand. They must have been in the kitchen when they heard Sophia yell.

"Sophia!" Carol exclaimed at the sight of her gasping daughter.

The mother rushed to her child's side.

"Is it an asthma attack?" Daryl asked.

Carol tried to calm Sophia as she ran a hand through her hair, but was pushed away.

"I think so. Damn it". She cursed, "I was afraid this would happen. I don't have an inhaler!"

"I know cpr". The hunter said moving Carol aside as he put the knife down. "Go get Hershel". He added to Carl.

Carl lept up and sped out of the room. All Dary had to do was keep Sophia alive and breathing until someone better equipped to handle the situation showed up, how hard could that be? He racked his brains, trying to remember what Merle had taught him about first aid in the wild. The hunter tried to pull the still struggling girl towards him, but she planted her small hands into his chest and desperately tried to pull away.

"Relax girl! I ain't gonna hurt ya". He said as he pulled her back once more.

"Daryl! Move!" Carol exclaimed suddenly as she finally caught onto what was really happening.

"What!? Why? She needs-"

Daryl's sentence was interrupted by a spray of foul smelling vomit. He released his grip on Sophia and she slumped over on the bed.

"That's why". Carol sighed.

The hunter stood up with the warm liquid dripping off his shirt. He had been covered in walker and animal guts before, but if there was on smell that got to Daryl it was the smell of fresh throwup. He heard Sophia mumble something of an apology as she drifted off again. He looked up at the sound of a slight snicker.

"You think this is funny?" Daryl asked the woman in front of him.

"That she got sick? No. That she got sick _on you_? A little bit". She smiled before frowning. "I'm still worried though".

Now that the initial panic had passed Daryl had more time to think. Jim had done a lot of the same shaking and vomiting towards the end. He could tell by the worried expression on Carol's delicate face she was thinking the same thing.

Daryl turned his attention towards the door as Carl and Hershel came rushing in. The boy's nose wrinkled as he tugged his shirt up to try and block the acidic smell.

"What smells?" He asked.

"Take a guess". Daryl muttered holding his arms out so the boy could see his new vomit coat.

From what he had seen around the camp, Sophia seemed to look up to Daryl. Carl smiled at the thought of her throwing up on her hero. This was something he would never let her forget as long as they both lived. His smile faded as his dark eyes fell on her pale figure slumped on the bed. That is if he got the chance to ever talk to her again. Right now he was thinking the same exact thing as Daryl and Carol. This is what Jim had done.

"Is she okay?" Was his next question.

"God I hope so". Carol said with tired eyes.

Hershel bent down to examine the small girls unconcious body. He laid his hand across her forehead, and frowned. He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and pry open Sophia's eye lids. Carl watched as he shined the light beam in her eye, what the vet was looking for he had no idea. All the boy knew was that doctors had done it whenever he would come in sick. That thought didn't make him feel any better. Hershel clicked off his flashlight and stood back up with a groan.

"Well she does have a fever and didn't respond to my touch, but her pupils did dilate in response to the light". He informed them.

"So…" Carol pushed for a more clear response.

"So she doesn't have any kind of brain damage. I'd say her fever and vomiting is caused by an infection from her foot, and not a walker". He said.

"Oh thank God". Carol sighed.

"So she's gonna be okay?" Carl chimed in.

"If her foot stays clean, and is allowed to get air she should be just fine". Hershel nodded. "But I don't want her to use it more than she needs to".

Hershel walked across the room and yanked open the draw of an old cabinet, and rummaged around in it for a few moments. When he turned back around he was holding a long tube and a small needle. The vet laid them on the nightstand next to the bed, and walked out of the room.

Carl wondered what those were used for, but judging by the sterile hospital like smell of the tools, he could guess that it wasn't something Sophia wouldn't agree to if she was awake. When Hershel returned he was carry a bag of clear liquid.

"I'm gonna stick an iv into her arm to make up for the fluids she lost". The vet explained as he assembled to tubes and needle onto the bag.

Carol winced, like it was her arm being stuck, as Hershel worked the needle under Sophia's tight skin. Daryl put his hand on the mother's shoulder as she shuddered. He was so amazed that someone could be empathetic to the point of literally feeling the other person's pain.

"That should do it". Hershel said as a hung the bag up next to the bed. "I'll take out in the morning, and see how she's feeling". He added as he left the room.

"Thank you". Carol called after him.

She turned to look at the large man next to her.

"What?" She asked him.

Daryl blinked. He was just now becoming aware of the fact that he was staring at Carol, he also became aware of the small eyes watching him from across the room, and the strong smell of vomit that came from his shirt.

"Nothin". He grunted and stalked out of the room as he muttered his good nights.

Carl looked at Carol in confusion as she smiled. Her and Daryl had been gotten awfully close lately. The woman noticed the boys gaze and shrugged at him.

"Try and get some sleep". She said as she pulled a thin sheet over her daughter.

" Okay, good night Ms. Peletier". Carl responded crawling back into his bed.

"Good night Carl". She smiled.

Carol smoothed Sophia's hair one last time, and flicked off the lights. She made her way down the creaking staircase in the dark. The mother struggled to make out the shape of each step to avoid falling, however her careful eyes failed to see a fold in the rug.

"Woah!"

A pair of rough arms wrapped around Carol when she fell forward. She gasped in an effort to calm her fast heart rate, that had been a close call. She could smell the strong, yet comforting, scent of sweat and hand soap.

"Careful. We don't need both the Peletier girls stuck in bed now". Daryl said.

Carol looked up at Daryl's in the dark. She became lost in the hard features of his rugged face, his wet hair told her he had just showed off the contents of her offsprings stomach . How is that he always showed up just she needed him most? Her thoughts snapped back to reality as he pulled his warm arms away from her frail body.

"Thank you". She breathed looking away. "Guess I'm still a little shaken".

"Not to shaken to find your tent are you?" Daryl said. He was thankful it was to dark for her to see him blush. "I'm sorry I-"

"Actually". Carol interrupted. "I think I am". She smiled.

"Well then my lady". The hunter said in a poor attempt at a british accent as he took her hand.

Carol allowed herself to giggle at the british accent, broken by Daryl's natural southern one. She loved seeing the playful side of him, a side very few knew two walked together, hand in hand, across the dew covered grass. If she had to guess Carol would have said it was around two in the morning. The hunter held the tent flap open for the woman, and the two climbed inside the small canvas shelter.

She was worried sick about her child, but having a warm body to sleep next her gave her comfort. The last warm body she had lay next her wa Ed, but what he brought was far from comfort. It felt good to not stiffen in fear at even the slightest movements of the person next to her. Carol and Daryl slept, wedged together, in the small tent until the sun rose in the morning.

AN: Hello thanks for reading once again!I know I said I'd upload on Fridays, but I don't like to keep people waiting. Anyway to answer some questions the story will be pretty long, it will not stay at the farm *wink wink*, and the rest will all be revealed in time.

 **Thanks Again~**


	10. Dear Deer

**Hey hey! Welcome back to my story!**

 **Warning:** I suck at writing dialogue for kids, but hey I tried. Anyway,

 **Enjoy~**

Carl's sleeping mind came to consciousness as his ears were invaded by the sound of, loud, heavy breathing. He cracked open his light blue eyes and turned over to see Sophia leaned over the side of her bed as she coughed and retched. The boy sighed and sat up as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes. He knew it wasn't her fault, but Sophia had kept him up most of the night with the sound of vomiting.

The boy swung his legs of the bed and onto the cold wooden floor below. He made his way over to his friends bed to help hold her hair back.

"Morning". He said gathering her soft hair in his small, unslung, hand.

"Carl?" She mumbled wiping her mouth.

"Yeah". He said softly. "It's me".

Carl cringed as Sophia's back shuddered with another heave. From this close he could smell the fresh vomit as it hit the floor. Hershel wasn't gonna be very happy when he saw the damage that had been done to the room overnight, even the side of her bed was covered.

"W-where are we?" She asked between breaths.

"At Hershel's farm". He whispered.

The boy started to rub his friends back. He didn't know if it would help, but it's what his mom would always do to him when he was sick.

"Who?" She choked out.

"He's a man that's been helping us". He said.

Carl backed up as Sophia turned towards him. He had seen what happened to Daryl when he failed to move away. However she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at the needle stuck into her arm.

"Oh yeah he did that too". He added.

Sophia looked at her foot, and noticed a white bandage had been wrapped around it.

"And that". He added again.

She up at him and her eyes widened in shock. Carl's face changed from concern to perplexity as he wondered with she looked so terrified. She raised a shaky finger at his arm. He looked down at the sling that help his injured shoulder.

"Oh this is just to heal the bullet wound". He explained.

"You got shot?" She asked as tears welled in her eyes.

"Actually twice". He said. "But I'm fine". He added quickly when he saw her tears.

"Do you know where my ma is?" She asked wiping her eyes.

"She's with the others". He said.

One of the many ways Sophia was like mother was the fact that she could feel others pain. She wiped her eyes and coughed. Carl jumped off the bed just in time to avoid a fresh spray, of not so fresh smelling, vomit.

"What are you? Filled with puke?" He asked.

"We all technically are".

The two kids turned to see Hershel walk through the door. Sophia eyed the purple rubber gloves he wore with caution.

"That's Hershel". Carl whispered to his friend. "He's a doctor".

"Vet actually, but yes, I'm Hershel Greene". The old man said crouching down in front of the girl.

He held his wrinkled hand out to her. She shied away, but the man waited patently her her to return the gesture. Working as a vet had taught Hershel many things about patience over the years, sometimes children can be a lot like animals. Sophia slowly extended her arm back, and gripped his hand.

"Hi". She whispered timidly.

"Nice to finally meet you Sophia". He said as he stood up.

Hershel servaid the damage that had been done to the to the room over night. Vomit covered the floor and right side of the bed, as well as a spot on the covers. Sophia noticed his eyes as they roved the room and bowed her head in shame.

"Well looks like the iv didn't work" He said.

"I'm sorry". She mumbled avoiding eye contact.

"No worries". The man smiled kindly.

Carl wondered why Hershel was being being so nice. The group was on thin ice with the Greenes ever scene Shane opened the barn, but it seemed he didn't hold anything against the kids.

"Why don't you two head on down stairs, and grab some food". He said. "I'll clean up here".

The kids nodded and expressed their thanks before they scurried down stairs. Carl moved as fast as he could with his sling, while Sophia tried her best to follow on her injured foot. When they walked outside Sophia was greeted with murmurs and stares.

The others had been kept in the dark about the girls return, in an attempt to give her some much needed rest. Not even Rick had been alerted that she was back home safe. Carl sat down at the table, next to his mother and father, and left Sophia standing shifting her weight. She never really liked being the center of people's attention.

"Sophia?" Rick said in disbelief as he stood.

"Hi ". She smiled weakly.

"How-how is this possible? How did you get here?" He asked.

"She came back yesterday". Lori stated matter of factly.

"What? Why didn't anybody tell me?" Rick asked.

"She needed some rest. She was literally knocked out". Carol piped up from her spot at the table.

"Well as long as you're safe". Rick said as he tussled her hair. 

"Come sit next to mama". Carol said patting the empty bench next to her.

Sophia felt her stomach turn as she looked at the food on the table. It had been days since she last ate. Normally she would have done just about anything to get her hands on some bread and eggs, but whatever had made her sick still hadn't completely passed. The smell of breakfast made the, now familiar, acidic taste rush into her throat. She caught it just in time to shake her head no.

"Something wrong honey?" Her mother asked with concern.

"No… I'm just gonna go for a walk". She said shifting her weight once again.

The night of rest in the soft bed of the farm house made her forget how hard it was to balance most of her weight on one foot.

"Not without these". Hershel said as he approached the table.

The vet was carrying a pair of large crutches. Sophia wondered how it was this man could just appear out what seemed like no where. He thrusted the crutches into the girl's arms.

"They're a little big, but you're pretty tall, so I think you'll be fine". He said.

"I don't know she's also pretty thin". Glen said from the table. "Like a twig. You need more meat on your bones".

"Oh hush. She's perfect the way she is". Carol said.

Sophia smiled and nodded at the group before she hobbled off on her crutches. Truth is she did want to get away from the smell of food, but she also had an alternate motive for her walk. When she was out of view of the table she rested the crutches against the barn, they were starting to hurt her thin arms. She walked off and disappeared into the tree line.

Daryl growled in frustration as he poked around the mechanical guts of his bike. Sophia's little stunt had caused more damage that he had originally thought. With his having to carry the girl back home he hadn't had a chance to ride it back, but now the damage was apparent. After not starting up the hunter had to drag seven hundred pound metal monster all the way back from the highway.

Daryl paused his work at the small pop of twigs as they snapped in the distance. He suddenly became aware of of the eyes watching him, small, blue, eyes. He looked up and meet the gaze of Sophia as she watched him work.

He could see her as she sat on a large rock in the distance. She jumped as his gaze cut through her, and fell backwards of the boulder. He smiled and cocked his eyebrow at the child as she scampered to a new spot even further in the distance, but not out of his sight.

"Damn deer girl". He muttered to himself as he returned to his work.

Being a hunter Daryl knew a lot about animals, and had learned how to read people pretty well. From what he had observed at camp, back in the early days, Sophia reminded him heavily of a deer. Her lanky muscles were always posed and ready to run, unless she was cornered. Then like a deer using their surprisingly powerful hooves, she would attack. Daryl had only seen that happen once before when Carl made the mistake of sneaking up on her in the dark. The boy had been left with long nail made scratch mark down his cheeks, and even what looked like a bite wound on his arm. Another way she was like a deer was in the trust department. It took a long time to earn Sophia's trust, and once you lose it, you can never earn it back.

"Um ?"

Daryl jumped and slammed his head off the underbelly of his bike. He looked up, cruising, as he rubbed his sore head. He looked up to see Sophia looking down at him, with concern written on her pale face. How the hell had she snuck up so fast? And with no noise.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...". She stammered as he mouth went dry.

The girl knew that Daryl was the one that had saved her from certain death, but she still felt fear run down her small spine as the man looked up at her. She couldn't help it, it was her instinct. The instinct that had kept her alive for years, even before the end of the world.

"It's fine". He sighed. "Not be rude but whadda' want?"

"I um wanted to… apologize".

"For what?" He asked wiping his brow.

"For puking on you last night". She muttered as she turned a dark shade of crimson.

Daryl felt his stomach turn at the memory of the foul smelling liquid. He chuckled and spat at the ground.

"Ain't nothin'" He reassured her.

The hunter tried to return to his work, but couldn't shake the small eyes that watched him intently.

"Got something else you want to say?" He asked looking back on the girl.

Sophia shifted her weight between her feet, she was beginning to wish that she had just taken the crutch. She stared at her feet like they were the most interesting thing in the world as she racked her brain, searching carefully for her next choose of words.

"Could you teach me how to use one of those?" She asked slowly pointing the the black gun on Daryl's belt.

"What a gun?" He asked pulling the gun out of the holster.

He could practically hear Carol yelling at him for even drawing the weapon near her daughter, let alone thinking about teaching her to use it. The girl nodded slowly as she eyed the object suspiciously.

"Here". He said holding the gun out to her.

Sophia's eyes widened in shock as he held the weapon out in front of her. Daryl wasn't an idiot when it came to guns, but he honestly trusted the girl to handle the weapon properly. Sophia was almost as cautious as Carol. She reached out a shaky hand, but suddenly withdrew it at the cold touch of the metal.

"It ain't gonna hurt ya". Daryl said putting the gun in her hands. "See?"

Sophia was surprised at the weight of the gun in her hand. How could something that looked so small be so heavy? Her thoughts were interrupted by Daryl's sudden touch. She felt every muscle in her body tense as the hunter put his large arm around her small frame.

"You hold it like this". He explained feeling her tense.

The hunter guided the girls arms upwards, towards the trees on the edge of the property.

"Now always keep your finger off the trigger, unless you mean to shoot, and only shoot if you really mean it. Understand?"

Sophia nodded and tightened her grip on the gun. She didn't want to imagine a situation in which she would mean to shoot something or even someone. She prayed that it wouldn't be someone.

"I'll cover your ears. Now shoot!"

Sophia squeezed the trigger, and fell back at the sudden push from the weapon, but she didn't fall. Daryl released his hold on her ears to grab her back as she shot. The girl turned around and grinned at the man. She had always been afraid of the loud bang and kick, but it actually wasn't so bad.

"Good!"

Daryl spent the rest of the day with Sophia as he told her the things that his father had told him about hunting and shooting. They shoot almost every tree along the edge of the property. When the sun started to sink below the sky, Daryl suggested they head back in.

Daryl felt his heart melt as Sophia ran back towards the house beaming. He started to care about her and Carol. Damn it he really started to care about her and Carol. He tried to shake the thought out of his head. The end of the world was no time to start to care. He had to look out for himself.

But he found that a hard though as he watched the young girl's graceful running movement, well as graceful as she could be with a busted foot. He smiled and shook his head. This damn deer girl was going to be the death of him.

AN: Thank you all for reading my story so far! Your reviews really mean alot to me, and I love that you all like the story. Anyway it's 10:50 pm and I have to be up at 3 am to work a booth at the flea market, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging. Hopefully this will hold you over till next chapter. Once again,

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	11. Owls and Guns

**Hey I'm back with another new chapter! Thank you all for reviewing so far, I love opening my email to see new reviews.**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia wandered through the dark, cold, forest. All she could think about was the time she spent lost in the walker infested woods, only this time she wasn't alone. She was with the strongest force in the universe.

Daryl Dixon.

"Get down". Daryl hissed as he dropped to the ground.

Sophia quickly mimicked the hunters motion. Her knees banged into her chest as she crouched. The girl spotted a walker as it shambled aimlessly yards in front of them. Daryl had told Sophia that today would be the day that she practiced her newly acquired skill on a moving target. He had originally wanted to practice on one of the many crows that hung around the farm, but Sophia protested and said that the birds were living just like them, and that they didn't deserve to die for target practice.

When Daryl had suggested that they take out some of the walkers that strayed to close to farm it sounded like the perfect idea, but now that the young girl was so close to the ragged corpse she began to have serious second thoughts.

Daryl sensed her discomfort and held two fingers, his ring and his middle, behind his back so she could see. Their signal for 'wait'. She raised the black gun as the man put down his middle finger, and left the ring finger by itself. The signal for 'ready'.

Sophia gathered her courage and sprung to her feet as Daryl lowered his last finger, giving the signal for 'now'. The girl held her arms out, like she had been taught, and aimed the gun at the approaching walkers forehead.

She couldn't help but let out a small whimper as she pulled the trigger, and let a powerful bullet rip through the walkers brain. The fresh smell of not so fresh blood hung in the air as the now, truly, dead body fell to the ground. Sophia grinned with pride, and turned to Daryl as she lowered the gun.

"I did it". She exclaimed as she shook with adrenaline.

"You sure as hell did kiddo". He said taking the gun out of her hands.

Sophia smiled at that, "Kiddo", he called her kiddo. Not even her own father had ever called her that. As much as she feared Daryl, especially when he was angry, the girl couldn't helbut feel safe knowing that he was looking out for her.

Daryl suddenly looked off into the forest in alarm. Sophia shifted her gaze along with the hunter, and scanned the horizon. She didn't see anything, but that only added to her stress.

 _What could he be looking at?_ She thought as anxiety exploded within her.

It couldn't be a walker, he would just shoot it if it was. An animal maybe? No he would shoot that to. Sophia realized just how many situations Daryl had gotten out of by shooting. If whatever was causing Daryl's alarm wasn't dead or animal that meant it could only be human.

"Wait here". Daryl whispered urgently.

Sophia felt a conflicting mixture of fear and curiosity as Daryl stalked off towards their unseen watcher, she wasn't quite sure that a human visitor would be that bad. After all Hershel was a stranger to her yet he help her and the others, even the Vatos had turned out to be good in the end.

A new wave of pure fear snuffed out her curiosity, as the memory of the creep from the house flooded back to her. What if this was him? She wasn't sure that even Daryl could take on a sneak attack from three guys with ropes and knives.

Sophia's last nerves snapped as a large arm wrapped around the stomach from behind. She let loose an animalistic scream, something that boarded a howl, and tried to give a hard kick as she was hoisted over her attackers broad shoulders. She left her injured foot connected with a large jaw, and a wave of pain shoot up her leg.

"Ow Jesus Christ kid!" Her assailant yelled.

"D- Daryl?" Sophia asked looking back in surprise.

Daryl rubbed his, now black and purple, jaw with a rough hand. The hunter had been glad to see the girl feeling better after day of antibiotics and bed rest, but was beginning to wish she had a little less energy. That kick was one hell of a blow from such a little creature.

"Yeah it's me. And watch those damn hooves!" He said.

"I'm so sorry! But don't do that!" Sophia yelled in a mixture of anger and slight fear. After all not many people can say they hit Daryl and lived.

"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scared you like that. I won't do it no more". The man said as he tossed the girl into a more comfortable position around his neck, in a hogtie like fashion.

"Was that some kind of training?" She asked, squirming her self out of his grip. "Like rel

"The responsible thing to say would be yes". He answered. "And stop movin' around!"

Daryl started the long trek through the woods, back towards camp, with Sophia still wiggling on his back. He felt her thin legs wrap around his thick neck, as she finally found a comfortable spot, perched atop the hunters broad shoulders. Sophia had been allowed to go out way from the farm on the condition that they wouldn't walk to much. The solution? Daryl became be her personal mule.

"What are you? A parrot?" He asked pushing her bandaged foot away from his face.

"An owl actually". She responded.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Yup! Mama says my name means I'm wise, like an owl". She said with a small sense of pride.

"A shoot an owl one time". Daryl commented.

"What?! Isn't that illegal?" She asked surprised and outraged.

"Damn right it is". He smirked.

"You're an odd one ". Sophia frowned in a calculating look.

"Careful". He warned, "Or you might just be the next owl I shoot".

Daryl lowered Sophia off his shoulders as the two stepped back onto Hershel's property.

"What's this I hear about shooting my daughter?" Carol asked approaching the new arrivals. She held a pair of crutches in her hands.

Sophia giggled and rushed into her mother's arms. She dropped the crutches to return the embrace, and Daryl simply shrugged.

"Hi mama!" She chirped happily.

If there was one thing Sophia missed during her time spent in the woods, it was her mother's warm hugs.

"Did you have fun with Daryl?" Carol asked as her daughter pulled back out of the embrace.

"Yeah! I shot a waker!" She said happily.

"Really?" Carol gave Daryl the classic "I'm gonna kill you later" look that mothers seemed so fond of, "Well why don't you go wash up, then get some math done with Carl?"

"Okay mama".

Sophia took the crutches from her mother, and hobbled off to go find her friend. Carol watched her disappear around the back of the farm house, before she turned back to Daryl. He swallowed, despite the fact the she stood at only 5' 6", something about the way her warm blue eyes could turn to ice in seconds was fighting, and slightly intriguing?

"You taught her to shoot?" Carol asked in exasperation.

"She needs to know how to defend herself". Daryl huffed.

"She's a little girl". The mother said as she folded her arms.

"Times are different". He countered.

"I know… I just wish they weren't". She sighed

"We all do. Look I know you don't like the idea for your little girl using a gun, but imagine what would have happened if I hadn't found her. The only weapon she had was an old wrench". He told her.

"You're right, and I'm happy she can defend herself. I mean she does seem to be coming out of her shell a lot lately. I just wish it was over something other than guns". She sighed once more.

"Look I promise I won't let anything happen to Sophia". Daryl said wrapping his arm around Carol.

"I know you won't". She whispered as she gripped his hand.

He gave her delicate hand a squeeze and the two stood for a moment as they exchanged farm gossip, and their thoughts. Daryl didn't trust easily, but something about Carol just made him feel safe. Just by looking at her you could tell this woman was a mother.

"Well I better go work on my bike". He said releasing his grip on her hand.

"Oh! Okay". Carol said in surprise.

Daryl rubbed her back with his rough hand, and gave her an attempt at a smile, before he started off across the yard towards the barn. Hershel had been clear about not wanting "Metal scrap" cluttering his lawn, so Daryl had been forced to move his little project to the ex-walker barn.

He pulled the large wooden doors open with a grunt, and grabbed a pitchfork off the wall to prop the barn open. The man set to work pulling apart the metal guts of his bike. He was a surgeon operating on the president, he moved with precision, afraid of doing anything to hurt his beloved chopper.

After what felt like hours Daryl was pulled from his work by the roar of a car engine, and Glenn's call.

"People!"

Daryl bolted up right, and rushed out of the barn. He grabbed the pitchfork as he passed the door. You could never be too careful, especially in the end of the world. As soon as he reached the farmhouse a familiar rainbow flashed across his field of vision, and he was greeted by Sophia's anxious face.

"What's happening?" She asked as she nervously thumbed the hem of her blue shirt. Daryl noticed that is was the same shirt he had found her in, "I heard Glenn say there's a person here".

"Don't worry kiddo, I'm sure it's nothing". He said softly to the girl.

Rick, Shane, Glenn, Andrea, Lori, Carol, and the rest of the rag tag farm survivors gathered around the white house. They exchanged murmurs and nervous glances as the waited for orders from Rick one how to handle their new coming guest. Carl bounded up to Daryl and Sophia with pure curiosity on his young face.

All conversation ceased as red car pulled slowly up the long drive way. Everyone stared in a careful silence as the car came to a halt, and the door creaked open.

Sophia watched as the figure of a large man stepped out of the vehicle. A large man with empty, yet wild eyes, eyes like her father's. She felt her breath as caught in her throat and turned to ice. What he said next drove the ice through her small chest.

"Howdy there folks! I seem to be having some trouble with my car".

 **AN: Big trouble in little Georgia's brewing! (I'm deeply sorry for the line) Anyway if you're just chapter skipping it's important that you go back and read the whole story so far.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	12. Jesse

**Hello! Welcome back to my story! Now this chapter is one of the one's that drifts a little bit away from the tv show, and enters a more original plot. Don't worry though nothing changes too much. Anyway,**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia couldn't speak, couldn't move, all she could do was stare in abject horror at the man that stood next to a red car. He gave the girl a small, knowing and smile, and small wave. She swallowed hard and started to thumb the hem of her shirt once more.

Daryl gave the girl a questioning look when her saw her reaction to the gesture, but then again Sophia was terrified of anyone with a dick. Still he'd have to keep an eye on this guy. He'd be damned if he let something happen to Carol's little girl.

"Allow me to introduce myself". The man smiled as he stepped forward " The name's Jesse".

"Hold it right there _Jesse_ " Shane snarled raising his shotgun.

The man halted mid step, and eyed the shot gun with a glint in his brown eyes.

"Are you crazy!?" Rick snapped at Shane. "We don't kill the living!"

"Won't have to if he doesn't give me a reason too". The shaved headed man growled back.

"Look I just need some help pushing my car back to my own farm". Jesse said rubbing the stubble on his chin, "Got lots of food back there. I can make it worth your while".

"How far is it". Rick asked, not taking his eyes off his old partner.

" 'Bout five miles out". The visitor responded.

"No way we can walk that far!" Glenn piped up from the porch.

"For the right price I'll do 'bout anything". Daryl commented.

The hunter was more than willing to push a car for a couple hours if it meant the group wouldn't need to rely on him for food so much. He felt a slight tug on his shirt, and looked down to see Sophia staring up at him with eyes that screamed kicked puppy. What was with her?

"Alright Glenn and Daryl you come with me. The rest of you stay here and keep on watch as usual". Rick sighed.

"What?!" Shane said outraged. "We can't trust this guy!".

"Well what are we supposed to do? Send him back out without a car? To die!?" Rick asked.

"Yes".

Rick rolled his eyes and waved to the two other men.

"Come on". He huffed.

"Wait!" Carl called running up to his dad, "Let me come! I can help".

"No way we don't know enough about this guy, plus you're injured". He told his son.

"My arm ain't even in the sling anymore". The boy protested.

"You know… we will need someone to steer the car". Glenn said.

Carl shoot the pizza delivery boy a grin. Glenn was always doing fun thing with the kids, and convincing the adults to let them do fun things.

"Fine". Rick sighed, "But you stay in my sight".

"Yes!"

"I- I'm coming too". Sophia squeaked in a meek voice.

Despite her best effort the girl started to shake. The last thing she wanted to was go anywhere with this man, but where else could be safer than with Daryl Dixon? Besides this creep knew where the farm was, and Sophia really didn't want a creeper and co reunion.

"I don't know…" Carol said putting a hand on her daughter's blonde head.

"Yeah kid you got a busted leg, if you were a horse we'd have to shoot you". Daryl said.

"Do I need to worry about you shooting my daughter?" The mother asked jokingly.

"Maybe". The man shrugged, "Kidding". He added quickly when he saw Sophia's wide eyed stare.

"Come one guys!" Rick called waving them over.

"Please mama?" Sophia pleaded. "I can help Carl steer. He gets distracted real easy".

"That's true". Daryl stated.

"Hey!" Carl protested in the distance.

"Okay you can go, but please, please be safe. I don't want to lose you again". She sighed.

Carol kissed her daughter on the forehead, and headed back into the house to finish up her work in the kitchen. She had been teaching two of Hershel's daughters, Maggie and Beth, how to bake her famous cookies.

"Alright let's do this". Daryl sighed.

The hunter started off down down towards the others, but was stopped when a cold, small, hand hand wrapped around his thick wrist. He looked back to see Sophia chewing nervously on her thin bottom lip.

"I've seen that man before". She said in a voice just above a whisper.

"What? Where?" He asked.

"In the woods… when I was lost". She told him. "He- he was really creepy".

Daryl dropped down to the girl level, to meet her gaze. She flinched as he put his large had on her delicate shoulder, but she didn't pull away. Daryl couldn't help but feel a little honored that he got to touch Sophia on his terms, nobody but Carol got to touch the girl, without being approached first. She must really trust him.

"I need you to tell me exactly what the hell happened". He said in a serious tone.

 _If that man did anything to her_. He thought with anger.

"Well he just called me pretty, and…" Sophia hesitated.

"And?" Daryl tried to coax out the rest.

"And… he said his car didn't work". She muttered.

Daryl felt a little sick when he heard that. Did it mean that Jesse was lying to the them?

"Was there anything else?" He asked.

"When he left two other man jumped out of the bushes. They had ropes and knives". She admitted.

The hunter's blood ran cold. Like any functioning human being Daryl couldn't stand the thought of someone hurting child, let alone a child he knew, and cared about? Whatever the matter was, Daryl was ready to kill.

"If he laid a hand on you". He growled.

"No! No he didn't!" She said frantically.

Sophia wanted to be safe, but the last thing she wanted to do was cause a fight. She had hated seeing Daryl angry, when he had learned of his brother being left behind, and didn't want to see angry Daryl for a long time. Plus she knew that Jesse might not survive a fight with the red neck. Sophia didn't want to see anyone lose their life, no matter how evil they may, or may not, be.

"What are you gonna do?" The girl asked with wide eyes.

What are _you_ gonna do? The you struck into Daryl's heart, Sophia had put her trust into him, and the thought of being even semi responsible for the girl scared him more than any walker.

"We're gonna go with him, see if the food is real, and you and Carl will NOT leave my sight.". He informed her, "Understood?"

Sophia nodded her small head.

"And if anything happens you let me, Glenn, and Rick deal with it". He added.

He received another nod from the girl.

"Alright then. Let's go".

Daryl and Sophia took off down the road towards where the others pushed the car. The girl yanked the door open, and tossed her crutches into the back seat. She slid into the passenger seat, next to Carl, and slammed the door.

Daryl joined the other men at the back of the car, and grabbed hold. With a collective grunt, the vehicle started to move forward inch by inch. As they struggled down the driveway it dawned on Daryl how much this was gonna suck.

 _Five miles my ass._ He thought bitterly.

He continued to kick himself for the next mile.

 **AN: Hey thanks for reading so far! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **(Sorry this AN sucks, I just want to get the next chapter out to you guys ASAP). Anyway,**

 **Thanks again! New chapter soon~**


	13. Farm Sweet Farm

**Hey hey! Welcome back to another chapter of my story! Sorry it's been a little while since the last update. Anyway,**

 **Enjoy!**

Sophia sat next to Carl in the in passenger seat of the creepy mans car. She watched the trees roll slowly by as her thoughts raced a mile minute. What was his farm like? Would the other creeps be there? Was his farm even real? The girl was pulled out of her worried thoughts by the voice of the boy that sat next to her.

"Wanna take a turn?" He asked.

"What?" Sophia blinked looking over to her friend.

"Driving". He said patting the wheel.

"Um.. Sure". She answered.

She slid across the leather seat over to the boy. The two awkwardly climbed over each other, so the girl could take the wheel. She winced in pain as Carl stepped on her injured foot with a muddy sneaker, and left a dirty mark on the white bandage.

"Oh sorry". He apologized.

They both bent simultaneously bent down to clear away the mark. Sophia felt her heart jump as her pale nose brushed Carl's. Her face flushed red, and she reared up with a small squeak. The two banged fore heads at the sudden movement as they came back up.

"I'm sorry… I'm.." The girl mumbled.

Sophia buried her reddening face into her hands. This was so awkward! She had basically just butterfly kissed her best friend! She sat with her face hidden for what felt like hours, she was seriously considering spending the rest of her life in her hands. She could build a fake house, raise a fake family, buy a fake rug to match the fake curtains. She could- did he just laugh?

Sophia felt a sharp, yet small, pain in her side as Carl dug his elbow into her. Her face grew even hotter.

"Aw come on sorry for what? It was barely a hit. Don't be such a girl". He laughed.

Sophia looked up from her small shelter and gave the boy a look that warned him to chose his next words carefully, but the moment he laid eyes on her red face he started to snicker.

"Your face is so red!" He laughed.

"Shut up". She muttered as she returned to the safety of her hands.

Daryl watched the exchange between the two kids, from the rear windshield, as he pushed the car along the hot pavement. Ah young love, the most painfully awkward thing in the world, reminded him of his middle school life.

"Those two seem really into each other don't they? That little Samanthas a cute one". Jesse commented from next to the hunter.

Daryl took notice of the look of amusement on the man's face as he mentioned "Samantha". He had a feeling Sophia had given Jesse a fake name when they met in the woods. He had to admit, the girl was smarter than he gave her credit for.

"In a daughter kinda way". Jesse added as he noticed the look the other men gave him.

"You have kids?" Rick asked with a grunt as he pushed on the car.

"Yeah actually, I have a little girl". He answered.

"Wait did he say Samantha?" Glenn asked in a delayed confusion.

"That little blonde one". Jesse answered nodding to Sophia through the back windshield.

"That's Sophia". Rick said bluntly.

Daryl sighed, there went her anonymity. At least the internet wasn't a thing anymore, he couldn't stalk her. Cliche as it was, Daryl didn't trust Jesse has far as he could throw him.

"Not what she told me". The stranger replied.

"She's pretty prone to panic. Weird kid, but nothing we can't handle". The cop explained.

 _Shut up dumb ass._ The hunter thought.

Great now this guy knew Sophia couldn't perform well under pressure. With every minute that passed the girl became more, and more, of a target. Hopefully this guy could be trusted.

…

Five miles, and three hours, later the group had finally arrived at at Jesse's farm house. Daryl cracked his back, and took a look around, as the car came to a stop.

"Here we are!" Jesse exclaimed. "Farm sweet farm!"

The car door swung open and the two kids tumbled out over each other in a way that reminded Daryl of his favorite hunting dogs, eager to kill the first thing they saw. Sophia struggled to pull her crutch from the grasp of the back seat. He heard Glenn snicker as the seat real see the crutch, and sent the girl backwards.

Daryl wasn't the only one that heard the laughter though. As soon as she sat Sophia looked at the pizza delivery boy like she was trying to set him on fire.

"Sorry". Glenn smiled, helping her to her feet.

"Not yet". The girl answered.

Just as a confused look crossed the Asians face, Sophia reached up and snagged the baseball cap off his head.

"Hey!" Glenn exclaimed in protest.

He went to grab the stolen hat back, but the children were quicker. Sophia tossed the cap to Carl as he ran past.

The boy proceeded to be chased around the broken car by Glenn. Each time Carl passed Sophia he would toss the hat to her, and just as the young man made to to her, she'd throw it right back to Carl, where the chase would resume.

Daryl and the others watched this little act go on for a few minutes before they stepped in.

"Alright kids that's enough". Rick smiled. "Give Glenn his hat back".

Sophia grinned and tossed a worn out Glenn his hat.

Daryl had to admit he was a little surprised to see the girl being so playful around the others. Usually she wouldn't become like that until later at night when most of the group were asleep.

He had seen the kids playing, and other various games, down by the lake back at the query. Carol was right, Sophia was coming out of her she'll. It was a nice thing to see, but this was no place to have a carefree attitude. For all they knew Jesse could be some kind of basket case. After all this farm seemed pretty empty, and someone would have to be a little crazy to survive on their own for so long.

Now that the fun was over Sophia hobbled over to Daryl's side. Even though he hadn't done anything on the way over here, the girl was still very wary of the new man. She found herself looking around the farm, she wanted to see if she could spot his friends from before. However it appeared that the only other living things on this property were a pin full of muddy pigs.

Satisfied with her search, Sophia turned her attention back towards Daryl. Little did he know she tagged along not only to protect herself, but to protect him too. She wasn't gonna let bad happen to the man who saved her, even if he did scare her sometimes.

"Well why don't we head inside? I can grab you some food, for all your help". Jesse suggested.

"That'd be great". Rick said with a nod of his head.

The group followed Jesses off the yard and into his house. It was a lot like Hershel's farm house, but with a more modern feel. White carpet lines the floors, accompanied by brown wallpaper. They walked into a kitchen that connected to a living room. A large staircase sat in front of them.

Jesse yanked the freezer door open, and pulled out a large brown paper wrapped package. He fumbled with the tape that bound that package. When he finally found his grip, he peeled back the tape, and showed the group the soft pink meat inside.

"It's fresh pork, harvested it about a day ago". He informed them.

"Harvest?" Sophia asked in confusion.

Daryl looked at the girl, and dragged his index finger along his neck in a knife like manner.

"Oh". She blinked.

"Yeah, unfortunately those little piggies gotta die so we can live, but they live nice lives in the meantime". Jesse said.

The man slowly resealed the package, and thrusted it into Rick's arms with an eager smile. Daryl subtly sniffed the air. Being a hunter himself the redneck could tell the difference, in smell, between good meat and bad meat. The pork actually smelled pretty good, but Daryl still made a mental note make sure Carol and Sophia didn't eat any of what Jesse gave them.

"Thanks man". Glenn said clapping Jesse on the back.

"It's a real big help". Rick added.

The two kids nodded their thanks along with the adults. Daryl gave a soft grunt and nod in recognition.

"No problem, least I could do for the car, but you best hurry and get that meat back to your farm. Goes back real quick in the heat". Jesse said.

Everyone said their collective thanks once more, and headed out the door. As they crossed the yard Daryl could see that Sophia was struggling to use her crutches on the soft Earth.

"Need help?" He asked.

The struggling girl shook her small head no, determined to be independant. Daryl rolled his eyes as Sophia's crutch took an ill fated step in the mud, and shot out from under her. Glenn uttered a startled swear as the crutch slammed into the back of his leg. Daryl acted quickly, and caught Sophia around the middle. The hunter hoisted her up onto his shoulders.

"Looks like ya do". He huffed in slight amusement.

"Hey guys wait a second!" Jesse's voice called from the house.

Everyone turned back around to see what the man wanted. He strode towards them in a quick, but not panicked, fashion.

"What is it?" Rick asked in confusion.

"It's nothin' really, but I got some feed I need to get into the barn". Jesse explained. "Only thing is it takes two people to get it into the hayloft, and I lost my farm hands a couple days back".

Sophia tensed her legs around Daryl's neck as her heart started to race.

 _The men from the woods._ She thought in panic.

Sophia suddenly because aware that the others had turned to stare at Daryl as he tugged on her thin, yet apparently strong, legs in an attempt to keep her from choking the life out of him.

"Sorry". She muttered, going red from the attention.

"Anyway, umm, what happened to your farm hands?" Glenn asked as he turned the groups attention back towards Jesse.

"We had a hoard of walkers run through here. It got real messy". He answered grimly. "But more to the point it would be great if one of you could stay behind, and help me load some feed into the barn". He added.

"I can do it". Daryl volunteered.

It's not that he wanted to spend a couple extra hours lugging feed into a barn with a creep, but he didn't trust the others to handle him if he tried anything.

"I'm staying if he's staying". Sophia murmured from her shoulder perch.

"Look kid I think you should just head back. You need to rest your leg". Daryl said as he craned his neck around to look at her.

Sophia shook her head in a small defiance, but coming from a girl as skittish as Sophia was, saying no to a request was about the same thing as flat out telling Daryl off. He opened his mouth to tell her to go back once more, but stopped when he saw the pleading and fear in her soft blue eyes.

 _She scared for me?_ He thought in amazement.

This girl was scared for him as a wiley, 5' 10'', 158 pound, hunter. Sometimes she really was her mother.

"Fine". Daryl sighed, turning back around.

"Can I stay too?" Carl asked, looking up at his father.

"I don't know we don't want to bother this nice man". Rick answered.

"Nonsense!" Jesse exclaimed. "A couple of kids? No trouble at all, I am a father after all".

"It's fine with me". Daryl added.

If Sophia had Carl around it might keep her from going out of her mind with worry. Plus he might be able to keep her from wanting to ask "What if" questions the rest of the day.

"But you two will not leave the farm, or my sight".

The two kids nodded, and Sophia slid off Daryl's back. Everyone said brief goodbyes, and went their separate ways to complete the tasks they had been given.

"Well come on, I'll show yall where everything is". Jesse said as he walked off.

Daryl looked at the two kids that stared up at him expectantly. Great, now he had to watch two kids around this strange man.

"Let's go". He sighed, following after the man.

He hoped he wasn't gonna regret this.

 **AN: Hey guys sorry it's been so long since I updated, I've had a major case of writer's block.**

 **If you guys enjoyed feel free to leave a like or review! I love it when I open my email and see notifications from FanFiction.**

 **Hope you enjoyed! New chapter soon~**


	14. Hoards of Trouble

**Welcome back, once again, to a new chapter of** _ **That Damn Deer Girl**_ **! Just as a little reminder, I don't own The Walking Dead or any of it's characters. All rights go to Robert Kirkman's amazing team, and AMC.**

 **Enjoy~**

Carl sat on a scratchy hay bayl, swinging his legs back and forth. Each swing brought a small thud as his foot connected with the soft block. The boy looked around the barn, taking in the peeling white paint, cracked wooden floor boards that groaned in pain when someone walked across them, and the large rusted door that squealed a pitched tone when pushed.

He shifted is gaze from the door to flecks in the air. Every feed bag Jesse set down in the loft above set showers of dust down onto the people below. Carl's eyes flickered as he followed the winding path of the falling dust. The beams of light that filtered through the cracked roof allowed the boy to clearly see every speck in the air.

Carl traced the dust for minutes. His gaze finally landed on Sophia, as the dust floated away. The girl was staring off into the distance with blank eyes, lost in thought. He smiled at her focused expression, she had always been such a worrier. Before thought it was annoying how often she would tell him not to do fun things, but now he didn't mind so much. He had missed her a great deal when she was missing, and found her return to the group a great relief.

Sophia sat looking off in the distance. She was keenly aware that Carl's eyes were boring in the side of her skull, but brushed it off. He had been staring at her a lot lately, so she just figured he had missed her.

She tilted her head up at the sound of footsteps above, he was coming down. Every few bags Daryl and Jesse would trade places. One stacked feed in the loft, while the other hoisted it up from the ground.

"Hey kids, how's it goin?" Jesse asked as he appeared in the large door way.

"Good". Carl answered.

Sophia nodded in silent agreement. Her eyes darted to the ground as the man looked at her. She could feel his eyes drilling her the way Carl's had, but his gaze was much more intense. It made the girl uncomfortable.

"Sorry to stare, but you just look so much like my little girl, Emily". He informed her.

Sophia just continued to stare at the soft Earth like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Where is she?" Carl asked with genuine interest.

Sophia picked her head up to glance at Jesse. That was a good question, how come nobody had seen "Emily"?

"Well she's not a very strong kid, very sensitive to sunlight, got somethin called lupus". He explained. "Get's blistered real bad".

"I'm sure she's very nice". Sophia whispered timidly.

"SHIT!"

Everyone's head whipped towards the sound of Daryl's panicked voice. The hunter practically jumped from the top of the barn, and skidded to a halt in front of the others. He fumbled with the walkie talkie looped to his belt.

"We gotta a problem". He huffed, finally pulling the walkie talkie loose.

"W-what is it?" Sophia asked as fear gripped her heart.

"Walkers, a whole hell pit of em". He answered.

Daryl struggled to press the small buttons on the even smaller walkie talkie. He cursed under his breath as he mushed the device. With a huff of success the hunter managed to find the right button.

"Anybody can hear me get off your ass, and pick up". He spat into the small machine.

Everyone waited in anticipation as the walkie talkie let out a, heart stopping, static groan.

"What the hell is your problem?"

A collective sigh of relief spread through the group as Andrea's annoyed voice came through the walkie talkie.

"You and walkers. We're trapped on Jesses fuckin' farm". Daryl answered. "No offense". He added to the man.

The next voice that came over the radio was Rick's.

"Wait what!? We're coming down there to get you, and the kids". He said firmly.

"That's suicide, none of us will make it out of here". Jesse chimed in. "It's a safer bet to board up the house, and wait this out".

"He's right". Daryl agreed, as much Ashe didn't want to. "First thing, we head out".

"Alright, I'll tell the others". Rick sighed. "Just stay safe, please, protect the kids".

Daryl turned to look at Carl and Sophia. Now he had to protect them from a possible creep, and a hoard of the living dead.

 _Shit_. He thought.

Everybody froze at the sound of a rasping walker. The reanimated corpse of a man shuffled around the corner, and lingered just outside the barn.

 _Double shit._

Daryl stuck his ring and middle fingers behind his back, and signaled for Sophia to wait. He was fully ready to grab her if she decided to bolt. The hunter picked a stray hammer up off an old crate that lay forgotten. He began to move towards the walker to take care of the dirty deed.

Sophia watched Daryl pad silently across the barn without causing a single creak. The stray roamer had its ripped up back turned towards the group, a fatal move around the hunter. She cringed as Daryl brought the hammer down on the walker's head with a sickening _thud_. The rotted corpse fell to the floor like a sack of moldy potatoes.

Daryl beckoned the others forward with his free hand, then disappeared around the corner. Sophia was the first to move as she followed after the redneck, she didn't want to lose him near the walkers.

The girl moved slowly and clung to the sides of whatever cover she could find. She had lagged behind Daryl, due to abandoning her crutches in the barn, but was still in front of Carl and Jesse. Sophia constantly found herself looking over her shoulder to make sure Carl was still with them, and okay with the man.

She breathed a sigh relief out of her small lungs as she reached the porch of the humble farm house. Never before in her life was Sophia so happy to see an open window. Daryl gave a silent nod towards a fluffy brown couch that say only a few feet away. The girl cocked her head in confusion at the command. What did he want with the couch?

Daryl tried again, this time he nodded to the window. Sophia stared at the two blankly for a moment.

 _What's wrong with the-?_ She began a thought, before she stopped in sudden realization.

It had clicked . The window wasn't open, it was broken. Sophia nodded back, finally understanding, and moves towards the couch with Daryl. The two moved towards the couch, and each grabbed an end. They pushed in as quietly as they could over to the broken window.

The duo flipped the couch upwards, on its side, and shoved it in front of the exposed entrance point.

 _That oughta keep the bad things out._ Sophia thought, admiring their patch job. She had to admit, they made a pretty good team.

The soft jiggle of keys alerted the girl to the fact that Carl and Jesse had finally joined them on the porch. She stalked over as Jesse pushed his keys into the lock, and turned it with a soft _click._

"Come on". He whispered as he lead them inside his house.

Sophia heard the door click shut behind them as her eyes struggled to adjust in the dark. She knew that turning on lights would draw unwanted attention, so she took to awkwardly feeling around the area in front of her. Her delicate hand brushed something long and greasy. She panicked and yanked her hand away, tugging the thing she had grabbed.'

"Ow mother fuuu". Daryl hissed under his breath.

The man spun around to see what had reached out of the dark to pull his hair. We he turned he came face to face with a wide eyed Sophia.

"S-sorry!" She squeaked in a small voice.

"Don't worry about it". He huffed, running his hand through her hair. "Just be glad I'm a peaceful man".

He looked towards the sound of a scoff and saw Carl with his eyebrow raised. Alright maybe "peaceful man" wasn't the best way to describe Daryl, but he's made some real efforts lately. He pulled a small lighter from his pocket, and turned it on with a small _click_. Using the small light the hunter took a look around the living room. Empty picture frames lined the mold stained walls, and a long broken down tv hung above a fireplace. Directly across from that sat a white sofa that looked to be about the only clean thing in the room. A musty smell hung in the stale air.

Jesse scurried about the room, humming softly, as he locked doors and drew curtains. Each time someone took a step on the white carpet, it sent a poof of dust up into the air. Sophia just happened to have been standing near a corner, where the dust had extra space to build.

Daryl could hear the girl as she coughed and wheezed in the dark. His mind jumped to the worst possible conclusion of an asthma attack. He didn't have an inhaler, or Carol to tell him what to do for that matter. He spun around until his light found her, leaning on a table, as she coughed. At the sight of her using the table for support he went into action mode, but before he could do anything Carl jumped in.

"You okay?" The boy asked, appearing beside the girl.

"Yeah". She wheezed with a nod. "Allergies or something. I'll be fine in a second".

Daryl didn't know if she was genuinely okay, or if she was tryin to act tough in front of Carl and Jesse. He didn't have to wait long for his answer though because in less than a minute Sophia was back up, and resumed her exploration in the dark.

"Alright everybody gather round". Jesse whispered from the fireplace.

Daryl could hear the scuffle of Carl and Sophia's feet as they made their way over to the man. He really needed to teach them how to use their stealth better. When the two kids finally joined the two men by the fireplace, Jesse motioned for everybody to move in closer.

"Whenever a hoard runs through here they usually go after the pigs". He explained. "We should be fine as long as we don't draw attention to the house".

The kids looked frightened, but nodded in agreement. Daryl could see Sophia wringing her hands together nervously. He watched Carl reached over and patted her leg with a reassuring smile. The man couldn't help but think the pair would make a good couple, just two kids taking on the apocalypse. Ugh, since when was he concerned with the relation ship status of children?

The sound of a walker's low rasping moan caused the air in the room to turn to ice. Daryl could hear every uneven step the biter took as it shambled around. The footfalls sounded like they were just outside the locked kitchen door.

Daryl went to shrug his faithful crossbow off his back, but was stopped by Jesse's hand. He shook his head and pointed to a large window across the room. The redneck followed his gaze, and spotted yet another walker, stumbling around the outside blindly.

"Shit". Daryl cursed under his breath.

He realized that killing even one walker could draw the unwanted attention of God knows how many. With no other choice the hunter sat in complete silence, along with the others, as the worst possible situations ran through his head.

 **** **...**

After what felt like hours of mentally watching walkers tear Carl and Sophia to shreds all outside noise ceded. Jesse got up and crept into the kitchen to check the door and windows. After making sure the house was still secure he slithered back to his visitors.

"Are they gone?" Carl asked.

"Not quiet". Jesse responded. "They moved further down the yard, but not gone".

"What do we do?" Sophia asked in a trembling voice.

Daryl had the keen feeling the question was aimed at him, not Jesse.

"Hunker down and wait it out". He answered calmly.

"That could take days!" Carl protested.

"We ain't got much of a choice". Daryl replied.

"I have no problem with you folks staying here". Jesse said. "I got some blankets in the basement. I'll go grab em".

"I'll help you". Daryl grunted.

If Daryl followed Jesse he could learn the lay out of the house, and plan escape routes. Plus the man wouldn't be able to do anything to the kids if he stayed within the hunters sight.

"I'll come too". Carl piped up.

Daryl sighed. The boy always tried to help in dangerous, and potentially, situations. At least he was driven. That'd come in handy one day when he's older.

"Alright". The hunter grunted. "Come on".

Sophia's eyes darted around the dark until they fell on her target. She reached out and snagged Daryl's belt loop with her small fingers. He turned to give her a confused look.

She wanted to ask him not to leave, not to sink into the dark with the strange man, but she couldn't. Every time she tried to speak fear snuffed out the words in her throat. All the girl could do was give Daryl a pleading look with her widened blue eye, begging him to stay.

"Let go kid, everything's fine". He told her.

Sophia shook her blonde head in response as she tightened her grip on the rednecks belt. She wasn't going to let him, or Carl, walk into a basement with a potential crazy man. What if they didn't come back? She'd be all alone like she was in the woods.

"I said everythings fine". He said, slightly annoyed.

 _Why don't kids ever listen?_ He wondered as he tried to pry Sophia's finger off. 

She struggled to hold onto his belt in a losing battle. The girl's fingers came loose with a small _crack_ as the nail on her pointer finger broke. She hissed and stuck the now bleeding finger in her mouth to ease the pain.

"Ooh, sorry girl". Daryl said.

After he made sure she was fine he slinked off towards the basement with Carl and Jesse. Sophia sat on the floor, watching the three figures sink into the darkness that surrounded them. Daryl had taken the light source she had with him. She sighed and took her finger out of her mouth to study the newly made cracks in the nail. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched the red liquid run down her hand. Something about blood always made her cry.

Sophia felt her blood run cold as two yelling voices echoed in the dark. The screams of Daryl and Carl. Her tears turned from those of discomfort to those of fear as she heard rapid footsteps come towards her.

"Hey there Sophie, is it okay if I call you Sophie?" A laughing voice asked from somewhere in the dark.

Sophia started to tremble as Jesse stepped close to her, holding Daryl's lighter, grinning like a psychopath. She could see every, crooked, yellow, tooth in his dirty mouth.

 _Daryl would never give him his lighter!_ She thought in fear and confusion.

"I asked you a question". Jesse said, taking another step forward. "Is it okay if I call you Sophie?" He repeated.

The young girl nodded at the man's request. The last thing Sophia wanted to do was make this angry, she didn't know what would set him off.

"Good". He smiled.

Sophia shuddered as Jesse put a hairy arm around her shoulder, forcing her to stand up. She could feel his warm breath on her neck as he ran his fingers through her soft hair.

"Come on". He whispered. "Let's go meet Emily".

 **AN: Uh oh, things aren't looking to good or anybody right now, but no need to fear! The next chapter will reveal the fate of your beloved heroes!**

 **Corny right? Just wanted to see how early superhero narration-ish could I could make this AN. But in all seriousness I promise the next chapter will be the most intense in the story so far. Anyway feel free to favorite, follow, or review!**

 **Thanks for readin. New chapter soon~**


	15. Emily

**Welcome back everybody to a new chapter of my story! I know last time ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I'm just gonna let you jump right in.**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl peeled his tired eyes open in a daze. His heart thudded lazily in chest as he looked around the dark room. All around him were cold stone walls, covered in mysterious rust colored stains. The smell of mold hung heavily in the cold air, and an old splintery staircase stood just in front of him. It was covered in the same rust.

The hunter sat up and groaned as his head pounded in protest. He looked around, trying to recall his location, and the events that lead up to this moment. His lazy heart kicked into high gear, and nearly thudded out of his chest, as his foggy eyes landed on the dark outline of a small figure that laid curled up next to him.

 _If anything happens to these kids I'm Earth shatteringly fucked._ He thought in panic.

Daryl violently shook the figure next to him, desperate to get some kind, any kind, of a response. A slight breath alerted him to the fact that the kid was alive. He flipped the unconscious body over, and found that it was Carl that laid next to him. A large open wound ran across the boy's pale forehead, trickling blood into his young face.

It wasn't rust that dotted the walls and stairs, it was blood.

Daryl felt his own southern blood boil as he remembered what had happened.

Him and Carl had followed Jesse to the basement, as planned, to grab some blankets to help wait out the walker attack. When they got there, being the prideful kid he was, Carl volunteered to go first. Daryl followed close behind, ready to take on whatever the underground room might have to offer.

As soon as the two set foot on the stairs the redneck felt something thin press into his leg. Caught off guard Daryl fell, pulling a startled Carl with him, down the basement stairs.

 _That sonuvabitch must've planted a trip wire._ Daryl thought in anger.

How many other people had he done this very same thing too? It didn't really matter anyways, all that mattered was getting the kids, and getting the hell of this farm. Even if the yard was walker infested.

Daryl felt around the dark for the sleeping form of the other child he was supposed to guard. He felt his heart sink into his stomach ash is Garda grasped at air.

He had left Sophia upstairs

 _Oh dear lord, if there is a God, let it be now"._ He thought with a slight fear.

Daryl couldn't remember the last time he had feared for his own life. Not even before the end of the world! But something about Sophia just made the man want to protect her. Maybe it was her kicked puppy eyes? Her shy deer like demeanor? Or maybe it was even Carol? Whatever the matter was Daryl just wanted to keep her safe.

 _You left her all alone._ A small voice in the back of his head piped up.

Daryl could practically see Sophia's soft eyes gazing at him through the dark, begging him not to leave as she had clung onto his belt loop, and he remembered what he had said to her.

" _Everything's fine"_

He sighed and ran his hand through his greasy hair, rubbing the spot that the girl had yanked earlier. There goes her trust. Something that's hard to earn, and even harder to earn back. Daryl turned to look at Carl as he moaned, and sat up in the dark.

"Wh-what happened?" He asked, holding his injured shoulder.

"The mother fucker tripped us". He growled.

"What!?" The boy sat up in alarm. "Where's Sophia?"

"Take a wild guess". Daryl muttered.

"Oh no not with him! We have to save her!" Carl exclaimed, leaping to his feet.

Carl raced out of the darkness towards the old stairs. Daryl stood up and followed after the boy as quickly as he could. Each of his stiff muscles groaned as he flew up the case, two steps at a time. Carl on the other seemed to be having no trouble making his way up towards the door. The redneck would never understand how kids could recover their energy to quickly.

When they reached the top of the basement stairs Carl grabbed the rusted door knob, and flung the rotted door open. They boy crept into what looked like a dinning room, with Daryl close one his heels. He looked around the dark room wondering if this house even had any lights to begin with. The sound of a pitched scream pulled him from his thoughts.

"Let go of me!" A female voice yelled from somewhere above them.

"Sophia!" Carl blurted, before he took off deeper into the house.

"Kid wait!" Daryl hissed as he dashed off.

The hunter growled and followed Carl, towards the voice. He was gonna kill Jesse when he got his hands on him.

…

"I said let go of me! You're crazy!"

Sophia gave Jesse a hard kick on the ribs as he tried to lift her off the ground. He had dragged her all the way up to the third floor of the farm house, and the further he took the girl away from the ground floor, away from Daryl and Carl, the more desperate she became to escape.

The man hooked his arms under her shoulders, and hauled her off the ground. He forced her to look into his wild eyes as he spoke.

"Now now, that's no way for a young lady to speak, now is it?" He cooed.

Sophia's breath started to come out in short gasps as she stared back at the man. That was the tone of voice her father used a lot before he didn't things to her, things she hated, things that made her bleed.

She let out an angry cry, and aimed another kick at him. Jesse sucked in a breath and dropped the girl as her foot connected with his crotch. Sophia scrabbled to her feet as the man clutched his private areas in pain. Before she hand a chance to run Jesse's hand shot out, and grabbed the frightened child by the collar of her favorite blue shirt.

"There's no need for violence". He hissed through pained breaths.

"Wh-what are you gonna do to me?" Sophia asked through her tears.

"Nothin' darlin'" He answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just want you to meet Emily".

The man dragged the struggling girl over to a small white door at the end of the hallway. Sophia could see that little pink buttery stickers dotted the door, along with colorful childrens drawings. They looked a lot like the pictures that she used to make for her mother after school.

Jesse grabbed the golden doorknob, and slowly pulled it open with a slight _creak_. Sophia coughed as a shower of dust rained down from the door frame. Every muscle in her body tensed as Jesse patted the small of her back.

The girl could hear the soft _clink_ of something heavy being dragged across the wooden floor boards. Jesse reached his hand into the black room, and flicked on the lights. The bulbs turned on with a faint buzzing noise as light filled the small bedroom. Sophia's eyes darted around the room, trying to see what was inside.

A little white bed sat in the corner with two book shelves sitting on either side. The shelves were stuffed with books that donned colorful spines, and several odd dolls and trinkets. A few dirty picture frames sat perched on top of a white dresser. The powder blue wallpaper showed an image of wild horses, running through a plain filled with tall brown grass. .

Her heart stopped as her eyes fell on alone figure that stood in the far corner of the room, with her face turned towards the wall. The girl looked to be about about Sophia's age, and pretty normal. The only abnormal thing about this girl was the fact that she had large chains that ran down her chest, and bound her legs to a cement brick.

 _Why does he have her chained up?_ Sophia thought in fear. _Is he gonna chain me up?_

"Is she…?" She choked.

"Emily? Why, yes she is". Jesse stated proudly.

Sophia peered at the frail looking girl. Her hair was black, and so long that it nearly reached her thighs. She wore a pale tattered green dress, that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

"Emily!" Jesse called to the girl. "Come meet your newest friend".

Sophia shuddered at a familiar moaning sound. She watched as Emily slowly turned to greet the two visitors. The girl has to stifle a scream as she laid eyes on her horrid face. Large pockets of bright red skin bubbled up through her flesh, distorting her once childish features. A rash shaped like a butterfly ran across the bridge of her delicate nose, and spread its infectious wing over her cheeks.

"There's my little girl!" Jesse cooed.

Sophia felt tears of fear and pity run down her freckled face as she started to shake.

Emily was a walker.

"S-she's-" The horrify girl started, but she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"A little sick". Jesse said casually.

"Why are you showing her to me?" Sophia trembled.

"So you can play with her". The man answered calmly.

"What?!" She squeaked in alarm and confusion.

"Emily used to be a very social girl before… before she got sick". He explained. "And she looks like she's been missing her friends, so I thought I'd cheer her up by bringing her one".

Sophia's eyes darted around that room once more, but this time things looked more sinister. She could see dried stains of various colors stuck on the wooden floors, and the horses on the walls suddenly looked tired and worn out. The picture frames glinted in the pale light, and Sophia could see that they didn't show Emily. They showed an array of girls, young girls, all bruised and beaten, many dead, chained up in what looked like a basement. She couldn't help but wonder how many other girls he had kidnapped.

"From the moment I laid eyes on you in those woods, I knew you'd be the perfect playmate for my little girl. You look a bit like an old friend she used to have in school before the troubles". Jesse said, running his thumb over each of the scared girls dark freckles. "You're very pretty and very smart".

"Huh?" Sophia blinked, trying to squirm away from the man's wandering fingers.

"When you told me in the woods that you're name was Samantha, I knew you weren't thick, and I only let my kid socialize with the smart ones. One's like her". He smiled.

Emily gave a thoraty growl in response, and started to struggle against the heavy chains that restrained her.

"P-please just let me go". Sophia begged as the man tightened his grip on her arm.

"Can't do that little lady, I went through a lot of trouble to get you, had to stalk that farm of yours for days". He told her. "Now come on".

Sophia yelled and tried to pull away from Jesse as he tugged her into the room. Panic took over as the girl bite down hard on his hand.

"Ow! Come on now! Don't be like that". He said, shoving her into the room.

The startled girl felt the metallicy taste of blood rush into her mouth as she fell against the cold floor, biting her tongue. She scrambled to her feet and spit the red liquid from her mouth. She looked up and came face to face with an eager Emily. Her rotted ankle started to tear as she reached out.

"You two play nice now". Jesse chirped.

He flicked off the lights and shut the door, leaving Sophia in total darkness with nothing but her fear and a hungry walker. She let out a blood curdling scream as rotted hands reached out of the dark, and grabbed her by the hair. The girl threw her hands out in a desperate attempt to push her attacker away.

Sophia let out another pained scream as she felt a sudden sharp pain in her left hand. Warm blood ran down her palm as she shoved the walker away. Emily fell back with a snarl. She hit the ground with a stomach turning _crack_ , and became to ensnared in her chains to get back up.

Sophia collapsed in the corner and drew her knees up to her chest. She let out racking sobs as she heard Emily flail and moan in the dark.

" _Where are you Daryl?"_ She thought in panic.

 **AN: And another cliffhanger! I'm so sorry about this, but I promise the next chapter will be worth the wait! As always feel free to leave a favourite, follow, and/ or review.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	16. Now What?

**Welcome back to another chapter! I know that I've left you guys with a lot of cliffhangers lately, and for that I apologize, but for those of you that hung on, here is the next chapter of** _ **That Damn Deer Girl**_ **.**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl stalked through the dark hallways with Carl glued to his side. The hairs on the back of the man's neck rose off the back of his neck as a young scream filled the dark air.

"Sophia!" Carl blurted out.

"Please! Get away from me!" The girl's voice shouted above them.

"Sophia!" This time it was Daryl that blurted.

The two took off further down the hall, abandoning stealth, in exchange for speed. Daryl's mind raced as he rounded a corner, coming to a staircase. If anything happened to Sophia he was going to kill Jesse. He was going to strangle hims, so he could watch the light slowly drain from his evil eyes. The redneck shuddered at how dark his thoughts could get.

He the man and boy reached the third floor they were met with a smiling Jesse. The horrid man leaned against a door at the end of the hallway, holding the doorknob as it shook violently.

"Let me out!" Sophia's panicked voice sobbed from the other side of the door.

"You sonuvabitch!" Daryl roared.

"Ah!" Jesse said in pleasant surprise. "I was just about to pay you two a visit".

Before Daryl could say another word Carl found his voice, and piped up.

"Let my friend go!" He yelled.

"I will". The man smiled. "As soon as Emily's done playin with her".

Daryl felt his blood boil at Jesse's smirk. Did he think this was some kind of game? The hunter roared once more, and charged at Jesse. He slammed the twisted man against the old walls, and stared directly into his sick eyes.

"I don't know what the fuck kinda sick ass game you think we're playin' here, but it ends right now". He growled.

"D-Daryl?!" Sophia voice squeaked, from the door.

The sound of the girl's voice was accompanied by a loud, rasping, moan, and Jesse smiled again.

"I actually think the fun's just beginnin'"

Daryl finally gave into his rage and jerked his thick head forward, slamming it into Jesse's with a dull _thud._ Pain exploded behind the hunter's eyes as he dropped the evil man to the cold floor, unconscious. Daryl gave Jesse a hard kick in the stomach and spit in his dark hair.

Carl rushed past the beaten man to free the trapped Sophia. The moment he opened the door the boy meet with the smell of death. Daryl stepped up behind him to investigate, and flicked the lights on. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Sophia sat in the corner of the room, cradling her hand, as the reanimated body of what he could only assume was Emily tried desperately to crawl towards her. Daryl silently entered the room, and unsheathed the large Bowie knife he kept on his belt. He drove the cool steel blade thought the poor girl's soft skull with one fatal stab.

Daryl couldn't help but feel a little sorry as he looked into Emily's creamy white eyes, after all it wasn't her fault she had turned into a monster. He wiped the rotted blood into his pant leg and turned towards Sophia. She hadn't looked up at all during the exchange. She just sat there holding her hand.

"Sophia are you alright?" Daryl asked, coming over to her.

"You- you said everything would be fine". She choked back tears.

"It is kiddo. I promise, everything's fine now". He said softly.

"No! No it's not!" Sophia yelled, giving into her tears.

"Sophia?" Carl questioned the outburst, walking up behind Daryl.

The girl took a shaken breath and slowly extended her cradled hand to Daryl. He could see a gash, that ran across the knuckles of her middle and pointer fingers, trickling blood all the way down to her thin wrist. His eyes widened in horror as he gazed at the wound. Carl gasped in shock, he too realized what had happened.

Sophia had been bitten.

"T-that's impossible". Carl muttered in shock.

Daryl felt numb as he stared down at the bite mark on the child's hand. He couldn't speak, couldn't move, all he could do was think about Jim, and how awful his last days were. He couldn't let that happen to Sophia, he had to save her.

"How long?" He mumbled.

"What?" Sophia sniffed in confusion.

"How long ago did she bite you?!" He asked urgently.

"Probably two minutes ago". She's answered. "I don't know though, I'm just, I'm just so scared".

"I know kiddo I know". He said, trying to sooth the girl. _I am too_ he admitted in his head

The redneck stuck his hand into his vest pocket, and fished around in it until he found exactly what he was looking for.

"Listen". He said, holding up a ratted bandana. "This is gonna suck like nothin' before, but you absolutely must do it".

"You don't mean…" Sophia shook.

"Afraid I do". Daryl nodded somberly.

"I can't!" She cried, pulling her hand back.

"You have to". The man begged. "We got no other choice".

"Please". Carl chimed in.

Sophia closed her eyes and took several shaking breaths, before holding her hand back out to Daryl.

"Do it quickly". She shuddered.

"Good girl". Daryl said.

He balled up the old bandana and stuck it in the kids mouth. The next thing he did was lay her left hand flat against the wooden floor and grip his faithful Bowie knife.

"Bite down real hard on that cloth, and count backwards from ten in your head". He instructed.

Sophia nodded and squeezed her eyes shut. She felt Carl take her free hand in his.

 _10, 9, 8._ The girl mentally counted down. _7, 6, 5-_

When Sophia reached five she heard a dull _thunk_ and an intense pain like she had never felt before exploded up her arm as her middle and pointer fingers were separated from her body. Her eyes flew open and she let out a scream, muffled by the bandana clenched around her teeth.

Hot tears ran down her cheeks as her gaze fell on her own severed fingers lying abandoned in a pool of fresh blood. Another burst of pain shoot through her as Daryl yanked the cloth out of her mouth, and held it against the two new bloody nubs on the end of her hand.

"That's it now". He coaxed. "Worst part's over".

"I think I'm gonna be sick". Carl muttered, staring at the bloody mess on the floor.

However it was Sophia that was the sick one. The pain in her hand was just too much for her to handle. She quickly turned her head to the side, and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor. The acidic smell brought Daryl back strong memories of the girls first night back with the group after being lost for so long.

"It hurts so much". She gasped, wiping the corners of her mouth.

"I know, I know". Daryl said.

"It'll be okay". Carl whispered, rubbing her back.

"What did you do?!"

The startled trio looked up to see a bruised and beaten Jesse looming in the doorway. His wild eyes darted around, stopping at his daughter's truly dead corpes.

"You killed her! You killed my little girl!" He roared.

"She was already dead you sick fuck!" Daryl yelled back, standing up.

Jesse roared in anguish and threw himself onto the startled hunter. Sophia gasped and Carl yelled as the two men became lock in a, no holds barred, life or death, struggle. Daryl felt a sharp pain at the base of his skull as Jesse grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked hard. He let out a string of words that could strip the paint of a house, and reared forward, slamming his head into his attackers.

Blood gushed out of Jesse's nose as he fell off the man. Before he could get back up the large bowie knife was stabbed into his broad shoulder. He cried out in pain and looked up to see Carl holding the bloody knife.

"Stay away from him!". The boy yelled.

Daryl climbed to his feet and took the knife from Carl, putting a large hand on the boys small back. Sophia stumbled over, pressing the bandanna to her hand, to shakily stand next to the pair. Jesse rolled onto his side and clutched the bleeding wound, red liquid oozed through his tan fingers.

Daryl looked towards the open bedroom door as a series of loud crashes from downstairs told him that they were no longer alone in the house.

"Shit! We made too much noise". He growled. "We gotta go".

The redneck grabbed the bandana from Sophia, ripped it in half, and handed the makeshift bandage back to her. He sucked in a breath, bending down, and scooped up the severed finger from the floor. Daryl gave a small shudder at the warmth of the digits. Just minutes ago these lumps of meat had been attached the girl that stood next to him. He pocket the cloth and took his knife from Carl.

"Wait, what about him?" Sophia nodded a tired head at a now unconscious Jesse.

"We leave his sorry ass for the walkers". Daryl huffed, heading for the door.

"We can't do that!" She protested.

Daryl turned back around to give the small girl a puzzled look. After all he'd done to them, done to her, she was willing to spare this dirt bag? Damn. She really was her mother sometimes.

"But Sophia he, he, did this to you!" Carl exclaimed, gesturing at his friends bleeding hand.

"I know, but he doesn't deserve to become a walker". She said, looking over at the limp body that was Emily. "Nobody does".

Another, closer, loud crash from downstairs told Daryl that it was really time to go.

"Fine I'll lock the door fer him, but we gotta go now". He urged.

Sophia nodded, satisfied, and limped over to Daryl, with Carl trailing after her. The hunter was true to his word, and locked Jesse in the small bedroom, as the trio made their escape. He stalked through the dark hallways, with the two kids on his heels, and weaved the path back to the front door.

When they reached the kitchen the group was meet with the sight of several walkers, groaning, as they shambled around the lower floor of the house. Daryl turned to the kids and put his finger to his lips, signaling them to stay silent. The three slowly crept off the staircase, and clung to the shadows as they moved towards the door.

Despite the fact that they remained quiet, and mostly hidden, the skin torn heads of the hungry dead swiveled towards them. There sunken eyes stared directly at the man and frightened children. Daryl wondered what could be drawing their attention, walkers were usually so easy to sneak past. He looked around for an escape route, but stopped cold when he saw the small pool for blood that formed around Sophia's feet.

 _Shit._ He thought. Sophia's hand was drawing attention.

The walkers sniffed the air and all growled simultaneously as they realized where the living smell was coming from. All hell broke loose as they lunged into the shadows, desperate to grab their prey.

"Front door! Move!" Daryl yelled the instruction.

The kids dashed away from the hunter side, and made a beeline for the now ripped screen door. Daryl followed close behind, slashing and hacking at the following corpses, with his knife. The cold air hit him like a slap as he burst out of the kitchen.

"Get to the car!" He shouted at the two kids.

He lead the kids across the yard, dodging and killing walkers, towards the red car that had started all this trouble. Daryl yanked the rusty door with a loud creek that echoed across the farmland. He slide into the driver's seat as Carl jumped into the passenger seat. Sophia divided into the back, and slammed the door just as a walker reached it. The cold body pounded angrily against the window.

"Hurry! Hurry!" The girl's voice called urgently from the back seat.

Daryl ran his hand along the inside of the visor, and found exactly what he was looking for.

"Idiot". He mumbled, pulling out a pair of jiggling keys.

Daryl jammed the keys into the ignition and turned it hard. The car roared to life with a slight sputter, so much for it being broken down. He threw his arm over the seat and peeled out of the driveway, literally leaving the walkers in his dust. Once they were on the open road, the redneck pulled the walkie talkie from his belt.

"If you can hears us, then pick the fuck up!" He said into the box.

"I'd appreciate it if you kept a clean tongue around the children". Lori's voice came back through the machine.

"I'd appreciate if you shut yer trap, and listen to me for one second". He said. "There's been a change in plans".

"What happened this time?" Now it was Rick's turn to speak. "More walkers?"

"Yes and no. Jesse's crazy, we had to bail".

"What!?" It was Carol that responded. "Are the kids okay!?"

"They're alive". Daryl answered, not wanting to bring up Sophia's lack of fingers quite yet.

"We'll come get you". Rick said.

"No. His farm's completely overrun with walkers". He responded. "We're on the road looking for a place to go".

"Just come back here".

"We can't, that old man's place isn't safe anymore. Jesse knows exactly how to get to us".

"Damn it. Guess it's time to move on". Rick sighed.

"Where you thinkin'?" Daryl asked.

"Fort Benning". The cop answered. "We've been talking about it, time to do it".

"Alright". Daryl sighed. "Then I guess we'll see you in a couple of days".

"Please, please, please keep the kids safe! Just do whatever got you all away from Jesse, and stay alive".

Daryl gave a deep sigh and paused for a moment before he responded.

"Alright".

 **AN: And another cliffhanger! (I know I'm awful) but I just feel like keeping the chapters around 1,000- 3,000 words is best, makes it easy one the phone readers.**

 **I'd like to take a moment to give special thanks to XxRav3nxX, and thedarkpokemaster for their continuous reviews, and support.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	17. Stationed

***Drumroll* And we're back again! Welcome to a new chapter of my story! The wait is over, so I'm just gonna let you dive right on in!**

 **Enjoy~**

Carol paced up and down the side of the road, dragging her feet in the overgrown weeds that rustled in the gentle breeze. She listened to the frustrated mummers of the men as they tried to fix the radiator hose on the RV. Despite the relatively calm atmosphere Carol couldn't relax. This was the third time the convoy had to stop to fix the old Winnebago, they should be miles ahead of where they are now! The mother just wanted to get to Fort Benning as quickly as possible to be reunited with her daughter, and Daryl.

She looked around at the tired faces of her fellow survivors. The Greenes had chosen to stay behind at their beloved farm, and Glenn said that he wanted to be with Maggie, so he too stayed behind. Couple that with Daryl and the kids being gone, and it didn't leave too many people, only Andrea, T-Dog, Dale, Rick, Lori, and herself.

 _Speak of the devil._ Carol thought to herself as Lori came walking over.

"You've been standing in this field all day". The woman said. "Come back to the cars before you get ticks".

"I've got bigger things to worry about right now than ticks". She replied, turning her close shaved head to look down the winding road ahead.

 _The road we should be on right now._ Her heart thought with a pang.

"Look", Lori sighed, "I know you're worried about your little girl, I'm scared out of my mind for Carl, being alone with a man like Daryl".

"There's nothing wrong with Daryl". Carol snapped, turning her head back towards Lori.

The woman raised an eyebrow at Carol, and cleared her throat.

"Even so, I just don't trust him alone with my boy". She responded. "His backwoods type aren't known to be the most gentle".

"You're wrong. He'll take good care of our kids". Carol argued. "You'll see that he knows exactly what he's doing".

…

"Shit!" Daryl swore, kicking a large machine right in its metal rib cage.

The man ran his hands through his greasy hair, and looked around the empty parking lot. The car started telling them it was low on gas hours ago, and it was running on pretty much just fumes at this point. This had been the fourth gas station they stopped at, and there was no way the car was going to make it to a fifth.

Carl poked his head out of the open window to give Daryl a curious look.

"What's the matter?" He asked with slight concern.

"Take a wild guess". Daryl muttered, nodding at the empty machine.

"Oh…"

The boy's head was joined at the window by a female one.

"That one's out too, huh?" Sophia questioned in a weak voice. "What are we gonna do? The cars going to die completely if we don't get it some gas soon".

Daryl sighed and readjusted the crossbow slung across his back. It was pretty obvious what he was gonna have to do.

"You two stay here". He said.

"What?" Sophia's eyes snapped over to the man. "You can't leave".

"It's just for few hours. You'll be fine with Carl". Daryl reassured her.

In truth leaving the kids alone was the last thing the Daryl wanted to do, but with Sophia's busted foot he couldn't take them with him, and there was no way the car would make more than a mile.

"I'll be back before sun down".

Sophia watched, from her spot at the window, as Daryl took off into the trees that dotted the roadside, holding nothing but his crossbow and an empty gas container. She sighed and slumped back into her seat when he was out of her view. Her fingers throbbed and stung beneath the stained blue bandana, and her foot was aching from the earlier farm escape.

She sucked in a breath and decided to test her bravery. The girl peeled back the covering to reveal her fingers. Sophia felt the acidic liquid that was becoming so familiar to her rise in her dry throat as she laid eyes on her bloody digits. Daryl had told her to keep the makeshift gauze pressed tight around the wound, so it could clot, but is looked dried to her.

A thin layer of smiley blood covered the short nubs that stuck out of her left hand, but at least it had stopped bleeding. Sophia winced in pain as she moved the tiny stumps back and forth. The fingers had been chopped of just under the second joint, so they coulded grab things, now they were just ugly little nubs. She groaned, and leaned her head against the door, still staring at her hand.

"Oh come on". Carl said. "It doesn't look that bad".

"I look like a freak". She responded, not looking at the boy. " A scarred up freak".

"Velociraptors only had three fingers, and everybody was afraid of them!" He tried.

"I don't want people to be afraid of me". She muttered.

"Alright". Carl sighed. "What'd you tell me about scars when I cut my leg back at the camp?"

"That scars are sexy". She mumbled, turning red.

It was true that Sophia had said that during one of her rare goofy episodes months ago. Her and Carl had been gathering water for their mothers by the creek, so they could do laundry, when the boy slipped and fell down the rocky embankment. Sophia gasped and scurried down the rocks, slipping and sliding in her haste, to see if her friend was okay. When she reached him he was sitting up and moaning.

"Are you okay?" She asked in concern.

"I'm fine". Carl groaned.

Sophia shook her blonde head, and pointed to the boys bleeding leg.

"You're hurt".

A long, thin, cut had been sliced up Carl's leg by the jagged rocks. he tried to wipe the blood away, but gave up after it just kept pouring out of the wound.

"It's not too bad, but it's gonna leave a stupid scar". He sighed. "Great".

"I think scars are sexy". Sophia shrugged, and offered her hand to help the boy up.

"Kids? Is this conversation appropriate?" Lori questioned, looking down at the two kids from the top of the embankment.

Sophia jumped so hard at the sudden appearance of her friend's mother that she accidentally knocked Carl back to the ground. Where had she come from? And how did parents always know when you were saying something that you didn't want them to hear?

"Y-yes Mrs. Grimes!" She squeaked, turning red.

Lori simple smiled, turned, and walk back to camp. Sophia looked at Carl and muttered something about how her daddy doesn't like her to stay out for long before she hurried off with a bucket of water.

Sophia groaned and sunk deeper into her seat at the memory. Carl laughed, knowing exactly what she was thinking of. The girl reached over with out looking, and batted lightly at the boy with her her good hand in a futile attempt to stops his laughter.

However it wasn't his friends hand that stopped him. It was the sound of leaves rustling from the outskirts of the gas station parking lot. Carl raised his head in curiosity as Sophia lowered hers in fear.

Carl noticed Sophia's nervous response, and gave her a reassuring pat the the leg. It was probably just Daryl coming back with some gas. What else could it be?

He scanned the few abandoned cars that littered the road beside them for any signs of movement. He had been taught a lot about tracking and observing during the time that Sophia was missing.

They boy turned his head away from the road, and spotted something moving inside the small convenient store that sat only a few yards away from where him and Sophia sat in the car. Whatever was in the store was too small to be a walker, and seemed to move smoothly.

Carl decided to investigate, and popped the car door open. Sophia grabbed his wrist has he tried to get out.

"Are you crazy?!" She asked him. "Daryl told us to stay here".

"He never specified that 'here' meant the car". He responded with a shrug.

Carl walked across the Parking lot, and left Sophia sitting in the car going out of her mind with worry. After running through what could go wrong in her head a mere hundred times she got up, and shuffled after her friend the best she could with a bum foot. She really wished that she hadn't left her crutches back at Jesse's farm.

The two kids reached the large glass doors that spectate the inside of the store from the outside world, and peered in at the dark aisles. Carl put his hands on the warm glass, and pushed the doors open.

After a few tense moments the kids left their guard slip a little as they prepared to enter the building. However their calm was quickly shattered as a raccoon lept out of the dark, and landed on the pavement just by their feet. Sophia yelped in surprise, and jumped back, as the animal scurried away. She winced as her injured foot connected with the hard ground when she landed.

"Guess it was just him making all that noise". Carl said, watching the raccoon disappear into the woods.

"Wait?" Sophia said looking sudden pale. "If the raccoon was inside the store, why could we hear it from the car?"

Before Carl could respond Sophia's question was answered by the dreaded sound of a low, rasping, moan.

 **AN: I know, I know, me and cliffhangers, aren't I just the worst? I just feel like cliffhangers are a fun little way for me to get the post apocalyptic adventures of a redneck and two kids stuck in your heads.**

 **Anyway for those of you that read the comics "scars are sexy" was a nod to Sophia's quote from Hershel's farm, I did change the situation though to fit this story.**

 **Alright I'm gonna go let you guys and gals get on with your days/nights. Remember to leave a favorite, follow, and/ or review if you're enjoying the story so far!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **New chapter soon~**


	18. Breath

**Welcome back to a new chapter of my story!**

 **Enjoy~**

Daryl had only walked about a mile before he found exactly what he was looking for, another gas station. He weaved through the abandoned cars, and machines, testing each pump. His search for gas outside turned up nothing, but as he peered into the dark gas station windows he spotted what looked like fuel containers.

The redneck crossed the cracked asphalt of the parking lot over to the store. He pressed his hands onto the surprisingly cool glass door that separated the convenient store from the outside world. Daryl gave the door a shove, and it opened with the _ring_ of a small bell. He waited for a moment to see if any of the undead would come lumbering out of the darkest corners. When no snarling voices or gnashing teeth came to meet him he stepped inside.

Daryl scanned the room with his sharp blue eyes. He reached behind the counter and flicked on the lights. The fluorescent lights buzzed to life above his head, casting a yellow tint over the room.

"Looks like this place has gotta generator". He said to himself as he looked around.

Now that he could actually see the hunter's eyes fell on the rows upon rows of food stacked on the shelves. Granted it was mostly junk food, and empty calories, but still food.

Daryl picked up a red fuel container that sat on the dusty counter, and to his surprise it was full! He grinned, and set the gas back down. He could finally get back to the kids, but first he needed to find a way to carry his new found treasures back.

He pushed the glass doors open once more, and stalked back into the heat outside. The redneck searched around the cars that littered the lot for something, anything, he could use as a backpack.

Daryl's prayers were answered when he popped open the trunk of a _focus,_ and shoved the pile of books and coats aside to reveal a large duffel bag. He lifted the bag out of the trunk with a poof of dust.

He carried his find back into the convenient store, and filled to with his bounty. After the bag was stuffed full of snacks, and water bottles Daryl grabbed three of the five gas containers, he would have taken them all, but didn't want to be responsible for the death of whoever owned this place. Assuming said person/ persons are still alive.

As soon as he stepped out of the store he heard a loud, fearful, scream.

…

Sophia didn't know what to do. Her heart kicked into high gear as the reanimated corpse of a woman in a police uniform grabbed her by the arm. She let loose a loud scream, and kicked the walker in the chest. A wave of pain shoot up her leg as the dead woman fell backwards. She had made the mistake of kicking with her injured foot. It was never going to heal if she kept misusing it. The monster sprung back, with a lot more force, to attack the girl.

Carl watched in panic as Sophia wrestled the walker. If she lost her balance it was over for her. He looked around the area, and spotted a low hanging tree branch that looked small, and sickly. It would have to do.

The boy ran over to the tree, and grabbed hold of the branch with both hands. He jumped while pulling down, and the limb came off with a snap that echoed across the lot. Now armed, Carl sprinted back over to his struggling friend.

As she gazed over the attacking walkers shoulder Sophia could see Carl come running up. He wielded the rotted piece of wood like a mighty sword as he swung at the dead officer. The branch broke over her soft skull with stomach turning _crack._

Sophia took the distraction as her chance to slip away, but to her horror the walker didn't fall like she normally should, instead she snarled in anger, and tightened her grip on her prey.

"No, no, no!"

The walker moaned and lunged forward. Sophia heard Carl yell as the corpse mouth smaller shut around her hand. The girl cringed, and waited for the sharp, tearing, pain that came with a bite, but it didn't come. She peeled her eyes open, and looked at the dead woman. Her teeth were gnawing on the balled up bandana that protected Sophia from the infected mouth that tried desperately to tear her apart.

Carl picked up one of the now splintered ends of the once whole branch, and took a stab at the back of the walker's head. He missed, and drove the stick into her rotten shoulder. The boy fell backwards as the zombies attention shifted from Sophia to him.

His plan was to lead the walker away from them, but the undead woman moved with a surprising amount of grace, and caught Carl off guard. The boy was yanked to the ground by cold hands. Panic ran through his young mind as the officer's eager mouth sat inches away from his exposed cheek. He could feel the warm breath of the walkers rotted mouth puff against his face with each ragged snarl and growl she let out.

Carl shoved her shoulders in a desperate attempt to avoid the fatal bite she was trying to deliver. A long arrow suddenly skewered through the walkers creamy eye, and came to a rest inches away from the boys own blue eyes. Cold blood splattered his face as the now truly dead cop slumped forward into his chest.

Carl pushed the now still body off of himself, and looked up to see a terrified Sophia, and something that made him wish the walker was still up and biting. An angry Daryl Dixon. Sophia helped Carl to his feet as Daryl took in the scene before him.

"What the fuck!?"

Sophia flinched at the harsh way he asked the obscene question. She tightened her grip on the life saver bandana. She could see the anger in his eyes, but she could also see something else. Fear? No that was impossible. Daryl didn't get scared, he only got angry.

"I told you to stay in the car!" He shouted at the kids.

What the hell were they thinking, going outside without him?! They could have been hurt, or worse! He didn't want to think about what could have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did. How could he explain to their parents that their kids didn't make it home?

"We-we just-" Sophia stammered nervously.

"You what?" He growled, challenging her to make an excuse. "You wanted to get yourself killed?'

Sophia gave her trademarked 'deer caught in the headlights' look as Daryl stepped closer. His large framed towered over the frightened girls small one. Carl stepped between the two like a useless wall.

"It's my fault!". He said, looking into his livid eyes. "Sophia didn't want to leave the car! I- I just saw something in the store… it looked alive".

"Nothing out here is alive'. Daryl said, gesturing around him. "It was just a Goddamn walker".

"Raccoon". Sophia muttered, staring at her feet.

The girl flinched as she felt the hunter's eyes darted back to her. She just had to open her mouth.

Daryl saw the way Sophia cowered at even his gaze, and took a deep breath. He didn't want to risk the trust he had built up. He shifted his gaze to the dead walker on the ground next to him. The redneck sighed, and pulled the arrow from her skull. He figured that almost being eaten alive was punishment enough for going against his wishes. In truth the way Sophia looked at him scared Daryl. It was the way he used to look at his ass of a father.

"I got the gas". He huffed, "Let's get back on the road".

Everyone piled into the stolen car for another few hours of driving. After spending some time in the open the vehicle felt a lot smaller than when the trip started earlier today. Sophia watched the road side roll by in the dim lighting. The setting sun cast a red tint over everything under its warm rays. The girl rested her head on her elbow. She stared at the walker of an older man as he shuffled aimlessly in a field. Sophia couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be dead, roaming wherever you wanted, not having be people trying to hurt you, and most importantly not needing to be constantly afraid of the other dead. Her foot was killing her after that last run in, and her head was starting to hurt her, not to mention her chest.

Carl watched Sophia's chest rise and fall as she gazed out the window. Her breathing went from quick and short to slow and long after a short while. He could hear a small whistling sound with each sleeping breath she took. The boy shrugged, and figured sleeping was probably the best option to pass the time. Not much else to do.

Daryl looked in the rearview mirror to see the two slumbering children. They almost looked cute snuggled together, almost. He knew that he needed to get the pair back to their parents, or parent in Sophia's case. He sighed and turned his attention back towards the long road ahead.

…

After a few more hours of driving Daryl found his eyes starting to close. He struggled to keep them open as he drove along in the dark. The headlights reflected off the sign of an old, rundown, motel. The man decided that it was time to stop for the night. He knew the kids would be tired all the next day if he didn't get them out of the car.

The redneck pulled into the lot, and was meet with a few stray walkers that took great interest in the vehicle, and its living occupants. Daryl simply parked as close to a room door as he could, and rolled down the window. He grabbed his crossbow off the passenger seat, and angled it out the slightly lowered window. With quick precision, gained from years of hunting in the woods of his home, Daryl took out the walkers one by one as they approached the car.

 _Thunk thunk thunk thunk._

Four foul smelling bodies laid in a large heap on the cracked pavement of the motel parking lot. Daryl popped open the car door, and ripped each of his arrows out of his undead victims. He slung the crossbow across his tired back, and pulled open the passenger door with a long creek. The hunter reached in and shook the shoulder of a sleeping Sophia. She woke with a jump and a small yelp. The girl blindly punched in the direction of what had startled her, and connected with Daryl's equally startled face.

"Ow! Christ girl!" He exclaimed, rubbing his cheek.

Daryl knew that he should have expected that type of reaction after he grabbed his in the woods, but he didn't think that waking her up was the same as trying kidnapping her.

"Oh Daryl I'm Sorry!". She said, coughing from the adrenalin rush. "But I told you not to scare me!"

"What's happening?" Carl yawned, blinking.

"Were stopping for the night". Daryl answered.

The two kids climbed out of the car, yawning and stretching in the open space around them. Sophia coughed a few more times before she looked around the dark area.

"Where are we?". She breathed.

"The Travelier Motel". Carl read slowly from the flickering sign that stood high above them.

Sophia shivered in the cold, and wrapped her thin arms around her body in a futile attempt to keep warm. Daryl noticed her action, and decided that there was no reason to be standing around the empty lot.

"Wait here". He instructed.

Daryl walked across the hard ground towards one of the many doors that lined the front of the motel. He jiggled the doorknob on five doors before he finally found one that was unlocked. A shower of dust ran down from the door frame as the redneck poked his head in. After no walkers came shuffling out of the dark to meet him Daryl motioned for Carl and Sophia to join him. The trio stepped into the dark, dusty, room, and Daryl shut the door behind them.

Carl and Sophia sat down on the large kings size bed that sat in the middle of the small sized room. Carl reached over, and yanked the nightstand door open. He pulled out a large leather brown book. Daryl squinted to make out the letters on the cover that reflected in the dim light.

The Holy Bible.

Daryl scoffed in amusement as he watched the boy cracked open the book, and settle down to read it. He guessed that Carl had been raised in a wholesome house with "good family values". Must have been nice. The hunter was pulled away from his thoughts as Sophia coughed, and slid off the bed. She walked across the soft carpet that lined the floors.

"Where you goin?" He asked her.

"Bathroom". She muttered, opening the door that sat across from an old tv.

Daryl heard the girl cough a few more times behind the closed door. He couldn't help but feel a little bad for startling Sophia, but then again he already paid his dues with a good blow to the face from a small, yet surprisingly strong, hand.

The redneck stalked over to the old tv, and decided to mess with it. Who knows? Maybe he could get it to work. Daryl saw a dvd player, and this place seemed to have power, so all he needed was a dvd to play. The man pulled the cabinet doors under the tv open, and began to root through them.

This caught the attention of the boy that sat alone in the dark. Carl peered at Daryl from over the top of the bible in his young hands.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he closed the book.

Carl padded across the room to join Daryl at the tv, and watched him dig with curiosity. Daryl gave the boy a brief glance before he returned to his task.

"Figured that there might be somethin' to put into the old bood tube". He answered.

"Boob tube?" Carl snickered at the nickname. "You mean the tv?".

"If you want to be borin' about it, then sure".

The two continued to dig around the leftover items from whoever had occupied this room before them for a few more minutes, before they became distracted by the sound of Sophia coughing from the bathroom.

"Hey, are you okay in there?". Daryl called to her.

He received no response other than more coughing and wheezing. Daryl helt his heart rate pick up at the choking sounds.

" _Sophia has asthma"._

Carol's words shot through his mind like a bullet. Daryl rose to his feet, and quickly made his way across the motel room. He jiggled the bathroom doorknob, but found it to be locked.

"Sophia? Sophia?!"

Daryl started to bang on the door as her choking grew louder, and more strained. His mind raced with the possibilities of what could happen if he didn't reach the girl.

Carl watched the display with wide eyes.

"Is she okay?" He asked with a sense of unease.

The boy question was answered when the strained coughing turned to violent wheezing. There was a loud _crash and_ a dull _thud_ as Sophia collapsed behind the closed door.

Daryl called for the sick child a few more times before he pushed Carl back.

"Move". He instructed. "Sophia, I'm coming in!"

As he banged his large shoulders against the door the man prayed that he'd find Sophia alive, and hopefully fully clothed. The fourth time his body came down on the wooden frame it burst of its hinges.

Daryl shoved the now lopsided door out of his way, and was meet with the image Sophia passed out on the hard tile floor of the bathroom. The only thing that caused any relief was that she had all of her clothes on, but that relief was short lived.

Carl stepped up to watch from the doorway as Daryl picked up his friends unconscious body. Her small frame looked so small and delicate in his large one, like the redneck could snap Sophia in half if he wanted to.

Daryl pressed his ear to the girls slowly rising and falling chest. Her breaths came out it ragged bursts with pauses in between that were to long for comfort.

"What's wrong with her?" Carl asked, fearing for his friend.

Daryl lifted his ear from Sophia's chest, and readjusted his grip on her fragile body to hold her bridal style. He was amazed by how thin the girl was. He could feel every bone in her ribcage poking into his hands and arms. Daryl couldn't help but wonder if Sophia was this thin before she got separated from the group. Her small weight could also have had something to do with the fact that she had trouble keeping food down for for a few nights after her return.

"It's asthma attack". He told the boy.

Daryl didn't want to believe it, but that's what was happening, and he had no way of changing it. Right now he just needed to find away to keep her breathing.

"The room must've been too dusty". He muttered aloud. "Shit".

Carl's young eyes darted around the room desperately trying to find a way to save his best friend. People died all the time in this new world, but the boy never actually thought about the people he truly cared about dying. The idea just seemed impossible.

"The shower!" Carl blurted with a sudden realization.

"What?"

"Do you think it has hot water?"

"I don't know, kid, does it matter right now? Not exactly a great time for a shower".

"My mom always used a hot shower to steam up a room whenever someone had a cold". Carl informed Daryl. "She said the steam cleared air ways, and made it easier to breath".

Sophia sprung back to life in Daryl's large arms. Her strained breathing turned back into violent fits of coughing. The man struggled to hold her now moving body, and was forced to lay her back down on the cold tile floor.

"Try it!" He order to the boy.

Daryl was willing to try anything to save Sophia. How could he go back to Carl, and tell her her beloved daughter was dead? He couldn't. That wasn't an option.

Carl yanked back the torn up curtain that separated to shower chamber from the rest of the small bathroom, and grabbed the shiny knob that controlled the water. He turned it towards the bright red h that signified hot water, and waited in anticipation as the head let out a heart stopping wheeze. After less than a few seconds wait, hot water burst from the rusted shower head. Steam filled the confined room like a smothering blanket.

"We gotta close the steam in". Daryl said, waving the transparent clouds away from his face.

Daryl ushered Carl towards the door, and pushed him across the threshold.

"Wait! I want to stay!" He protested. "She's my friend".

Sophia had always been there for Carl when he needed her. Back at the Atlanta camp, in the first days of the apocalypse, the boy was still struggling to come to terms with the idea of his only father being dead. Sophia would show up periodically to chat. Even though she only spoke a few words without much, eye contact, it was still nice to know that she was interested in him, and his thoughts. After about a week of chatting, and a bit of checkers playing, the two children became practically inseparable. Carl would be damned if he was gonna let anybody stand in the way of him helping his sick friend.

"Look". Daryl sighed. "This might get messy, and you shouldn't have to be around if it does".

"But-" Carl started in a weak protest.

"But notin'" The redneck cut him off. "Go sit on the bed, and do not leave unless you're bleedin' ta death".

And with that Carl was shoved out of the bathroom, and the door swung shut behind him. He heard the lock turn into place with a soft _click._ So much for just breaking back into the small room. Carl scoffed at his own thoughts. Like he dared to go against what Daryl ordered. True he had done it back at the gas station, but there was just something different about knowing that the man was in the same common area that kept the boy in check.

Carl let out a frustrated/ worried groan, and flopped onto the king sized bed. A small cloud of the killer dust shot out of the brown comforter, that covered the bed, with a sigh. He stared at the bathroom door, willing his blue eyes to slice through the old wooden frame, and give him a glimpse inside.

Back in the bathroom, Daryl paced the best he could in the small room without stepping on the fragile Sophia. He took two steps, then spun on his heels, and took another two steps in the opposite direction.

Daryl heard a small, dry, yelp cut through Sophia's weak breathing. He looked down to see the girls three fingered hand crumpled up under his unforgiving boot. The bandana that had kept the hand protected had been lost in the walker scuffle, and Daryl could see the result of the whole Jesse incident.

"Shit, sorry, kiddo". He apologised to her tuned out ears.

The hunter decided to put an end to his pacing, and sat down on the closed toilet seat. It was loose with cracks running across the white paint that threatened to break at any moment. Daryl reached down to his belt, and thumbed his knife blade anxiously. He watched Sophia stirr and cough on the hard floor. He really hoped that the steam that filled the room would help her through this. At this point the only other option would be to put the child down.

Daryl knew how to perform cpr on adults, and children, but also knew that cpr almost always resulted in a broken rib cage. Couple that with her already injured foot, missing fingers, and lack of proper medical treatment, and she'd just be spending whatever time the cpr bought her in pain before she succumbed to her injuries.

If the shower didn't work, then there wasn't much else Daryl could do, giving the circumstances. If he put her down it would be the kind thing to do. She wouldn't have to be in pain.

The idea of having to even mercy kill this girl sent waves of nausea and panic through Daryl's tense body. He couldn't go back to Carol without Sophia. He just couldn't, he just couldn't, he just couldn't-

Daryl's repetitive, panicked, thoughts were interrupted by Sophia pushing herself up onto her thin elbows.

"Daryl?" She said weakly.

"I'm right here". He responded with intense relief.

"I don't feel good". She whispered, brushing dirty hair out of her pale face.

Daryl looked at Sophia through the transparent clouds of steam that filled the room. The weakness of her voice, and the shaking of her spindly muscles made him see the girl the way he had back in Atlanta. He saw her as the small, weak, child, that lived under the iron first of that ape she called a father.

"Want to go to bed?" He offered after a pause.

Sophia nodded her head, and picked herself up off the ground. Daryl reached his hand behind the shower curtain, and turned the life saving shower off. He took the girl under her small arms, and helped support her weight. The two crossed over into the other room, and were met with a worried Carl.

"Are you okay?" He asked the moment he saw Sophia.

"Yeah". She yawned, giving a feeble smile. "Just tired".

She muttered a half concisus thank you to Daryl, and crawled into bed next to Carl. She buried herself under the thick blankets, and nuzzled into her pillow. Carl watched her for a second to make sure that she was truly okay, before he settled into his own pillow.

Daryl made sure that everything in the room was locked up tight against unwanted visitors, then sat down in a large recliner that sat just to the side of the door that lead to the outside world. He decided to take advantage of the quit, and set to work cleaning now dired walker blood off his crossbow arrows.

He repeated the steps in took to clean the reusable ammunition for what felt like hours before his started to droop. The adrenaline from the asthma incident had worn off, and the tiredness from the car came flooding back to Daryl. He dropped his work on the ground, and settled down into the soft chair. Morning would come before he knew it.

 **AN: Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I've had a serious case of writer's block, but I think I've moved past it (for now). Anyway feel free to let me know your thoughts on the story so far, and some theories if you'd like.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	19. Safety?

**Welcome back to another chapter of** _ **That Damn Deer Girl.**_ **I just want to thank you guys of the continuous reviews and support. It really means alot to me! Now without further ado,**

 **Enjoy~**

Sophia's young blue eyes peeled open. She scanned the dimly lit room around her, and her heart kicked into high gear as she spotted a large figure slumped in the corner. Where was she? The girl jerked herself up into a sitting position, so she could see better. Sophia's sudden motion caused a body under the sheets next to her to stir. She gripped that large blanket that covered the form, and yanked it off. The sudden removal of the covering left a disgruntled Carl laying curled up on the bed.

"There better be a problem". He muttered sleepily into his pillow.

Sophia blinked, and took another look around the room. Now that her eyes had adjusted she could make out bits of furniture strewn across the small area. Memories of last night flooded back to the girl as she looked into the corner. The slumped over figure was just Daryl sleeping in a large reclining chair.

"No… sorry" Sophia said.

She released her grip on the warm blanket, and let it fall back over Carl. He groaned in appreciation, and slipped his brunette head under the fluffy cover. Now that the adrenaline had worn off Sophia felt her own eyelids begin to drop again. She had never been much of a morning person. If there was one good thing that came out of the end of the world it was that school no longer existed. Sophia glanced over at Daryl in the corner, and saw that he was still asleep. She yawned, and shrugged her small shoulders. A few more minutes of sleep couldn't hurt.

Sophia flopped back down on to her off white pillow with a small _oof._ She nuzzled her face into the soft fabric, and for a second it felt like she was back at home with her mother. A small lump formed in the back of the girls throat at the thought of her mom. The last thing that Sophia wanted to do was cry in front of Daryl and Carl, but she just couldn't help it. Was her mother worried about them? Did she think they were all dead? Was she dead?

Sophia dug her three fingers into the pillow. She wouldn't think about that, she couldn't. She decided to just let the tears flow free from her young eyes. After all she had her face buried, and the chances of waking up a sleeping Daryl or Carl were low. Her chest heaved under the blankets as she struggled to control her breathing.

 _She's fine, and we have Daryl. We'll all be back together at Fort Benning in no time_. She thought to herself comfortingly.

Daryl sat in the poorly lit room, and listened to the sound of Sophia's quiet sobs. He debated whether or not he should go over, and go something to comfort the upset child, but a voice in the back of his head told him that she might not like Carl knowing that she's crying. The two were always trying to impress each other in small ways, like seeing who would walk the furthest into the woods surrounded the quarry, or who could finish their mother inforced homework first.

The hunter yawned, and sat pushed himself out of the warm chair. Daryl heard his back crack, stiff from spending the night in a sitting position. He pulled on his large boots, and slipped out the front door. The kids would be fine on their own for a couple of minutes while he scouted out the area outside.

Now that he got a chance to look around in the light Daryl could see that there were more than a few bodies piled on the cracked pavement. The redneck nudged the corpse of a young woman with his foot, and flipped her onto her back. He could see that she had puffy brown hair, pale skin, and light bruises dotted under her sunken eyes. A bloody hole, that could only be a gun wound, painted the side of her head a dark red.

Daryl looked up from the body, and scanned the rest of the parking lot. An abandoned truck sat under the platform that protruded from the upstairs of the motel, waiting patiently for its driver that would never return. His boots echoed a lonesome sound in the empty space as he stalked towards the vehicle. Daryl could tell that this place was depressing, even before the end of the world. He grabbed the rusted truck handle, and popped the creaking door open. Daryl did what he did best, and set to work scavenging the torn leather seats, and dirty floors, for anything that could be useful.

Meanwhile back in the hotel room Carl began to stir from his slumber. The boy sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he yawned. He glanced over at Sophia's still sleeping form, and noticed the light tear marks that stained her freckled face. What was she crying about? Carl shrugged the thought off, and decided to just left his friend sleep. He could ask her about it later.

Carl looked around the small room for Daryl. Sunlight beamed through the half closed plastic shades of the dingy motel room, making every particle of dust in the air visible. He watched the dust perform their little dance, complete with many twirls and spins, before he pulled himself out of the cold bed. The soft mattress groaned, and momentarily caved in, as the child pushed himself up. Carl gave the room another sweep with his wandering eyes.

Where was Daryl?

Carl considered waking Sophia, but decided that alerting her to the missing adult would just cause her to panic. After last night's scare the last thing that he wanted to do was cause excitement for the girl.

Almost as if she could read his mind, Sophia moaned and sat up in the bed. She rubbed the tear marks away from her face with a three fingered fist. She paused her rubbing, and looked down at her hand with a perplexed look on her face. Carl watched her open and close her fist slowly a few times before she reached over with her good hand, and rubbed her thumb across the stumps that used to be her fingers.

"Morning". Carl said from by the door.

Sophia nearly jumped out of her skin as she whipped her blonde head around to stare at her friend. Her hands flew back to her face, and rubbed her eyes a few more times in a desperate attempt to eliminate the tear marks. She had no idea that she had been being watched.

"Are you okay?" Carl asked in response to her startled reaction.

"Yeah". She said with a slight cough. "It's just… I can feel my lost fingers. Is that weird?"

Carl shook his head.

"No, it's called a phantom pain". He informed his friend. "Shane taught me about them when my dad was in the hospital".

Sophia didn't quite understand, but nodded anyway. She looked around the room once more, scanning every inch with her watchful eyes. When she realized that they were the only to bodies in the room she had the same question Carl did.

"Where's Daryl?" She asked in a voice hoarse from sleep.

"Probably just outside". He said casually.

In truth Carl had no idea himself, but he could see the way Sophia's eyes widened at the empty chair. She was terrified at the thought of being alone, even before she got lost in the woods. The girl slumped out of bed, and reached out for her dirty sneakers.

"We should go check". She said,tying her shoes.

Carl just shrugged, and walked towards the door. The memory of Daryl's anger when they had gone out without him before was still fresh in Sophia's timid mind, but in truth she'd rather face an angry Darryl than face being alone with just Carl.

The two kids cracked the door open, and gave the outside world a calculating look. They spotted an old truck, a few walker bodies, and the body of a lady that looked like she never got the chance to become undead.

Sophia's eyes lingered on the body of the woman. Who was she? What was her story? For the first few days of the apocalypse the girl mourned for just about every walker she saw. However after awhile it just became too much. She started to see the undead as just faceless monsters out to kill the living, as something to fear, but seeing a dead body that wasn't rotted reminded Sophia that these were all dead people, people who's had lives, people who had family, people like her.

Carl watched Sophia stare at the woman's body with a blank look of sadness etched on her delicate face. He too looked at the body, and wondered if the gunshot wound on the poor girls had her spooked. It couldn't have been fresh, they would have heard it happen.

Seeing no immediate danger, Carl pushed the door open all the way, and allowed the natural light of the sun to fill the motel room. He crept across the black top with Sophia hot on his heels. Ever since she had come back from being lost she didn't take too well to being left alone, even in a safe place.

Carl looked around the parking lot, but saw no sign of Daryl. The only other creatures seemed to be the birds in the morning sky, and the unseen walkers that shambled aimlessly among the trees. Sophia grabbed his attention by giving his shoulder a few hard pokes with one of her few good fingers. She nodded her head towards the rusted truck when he looked over at her.

Carl peered at the vehicle, trying to understand what his friend was wordlessly telling him. After a few moments of staring the boy realized that the truck was moving ever so slightly. It wasn't much, just a few small shakes, but it was still movement.

"Do you think it's Daryl?" Sophia whispered in fear of alerting whatever was causing the slight rocking to their presence.

"Only one way to find out". Carl whispered back.

Carl put on his brave face and marched towards the truck. Sophia stood for a few seconds not sure whether or not she should follow. She decided it would be best to follow incase he needed help, or they had to run back to the room, and scurried across the pavement to rejoin her friend. She breathed in the warm air as she paced towards the truck that either their salvation or their death. Carl reached out, and tapped the side if the truck with his small fist.

The door flew open, and a startled looking Daryl tumbled out onto the poorly painted pavement. He whipped his greasy head around to stare at the two children that had caused his sudden alarm. Sophia eyed the way his hands flew to the weapon on his back, and wondered just how close they had been to death. Daryl climbed to his feet with a grunt, and scanned the two kids with his cool eyes.

"What the hell are two doing out here?" He asked, climbing to his feet.

"Good morning to you too". Carl muttered jokingly.

"Ha ha". Daryl replied dryly. "Now what are you doing?"

"I wanted to say thanks for helping me last night". Sophia admitted.

"Wasn't nothin'". The hunter responded. "Your mama would kill me if I came back without you". "You too". He added to Carl

Sophia peered around Daryl's large from, and into the truck. She could see that the inside was just about as dingy as the outside. The glovebox, and several other small compartments, were popped open. The contents of the convenient storage places were in a state of casual disarray, like Daryl had gone through them.

"Find anything good?" She asked.

Daryl flashed her his version of a quick grin, and pulled what looked like a deck of cards out from his back pocket.

"Thought y'all might enjoy these". He said, holding the deck out to the children.

Sophia squinted at the bright red packaging. They looked like normal playing cards, but didn't cards come in white packages?

"What's _Uno?_ " She asked, reading the golden lettering.

Before Daryl had the chance to explain, Carl happily took to answering Sophia's question.

"Uno is this really fun card game where you try to get rid of all your cards by unloading them onto the other players". The boy exploded. "You basically just try to keep your family, and friends, from winning".

"It's game for kids about fuckin' over your family". Daryl commented.

"Language". Sophia smiled at the redneck.

Daryl had made a promise to Carol back at Herschel's that he'd start trying to curb his southern mouth, and the woman employed the help of her only daughter to make sure he kept his promise.

"Sorry, screwin' over your family". He repeated.

Sophia nodded her aprovements as Carl turned to her.

"How have you not heard of Uno?" He asked. "Didn't you ever play it with our family?"

"Well we weren't really allowed to make much noise in our house". Sophia replied. "And my daddy didn't really like games".

The girl looked at the ground, and scuffed her toe into the dirt, like it was the most interesting thing in the entirety of the world, to avoid the stares that she felt from Carl and Daryl.

Daryl watched Sophia try her best not to look up and meet his questioning gaze. It was no secret how big of a jerk Ed had been, everyone saw the way he dragged Carol around, and ordered Sophia like a dog, but Daryl began to wonder just how bad things had been for Sophia before the end of the world.

Everyone saw Ed hit Carol, but what about the things that they didn't see? Was Sophia hit like her mother? Worse than that, did her pathetic excuse for a father do other things to her? The way she held herself around others, especially men, told a lot about the girl.

Daryl pulled his eyes away from Sophia, and gazed back at the cards in his large hands. He shook the package, gaining the attention of the two kids.

"How about we play a round?"

The children grinned, and took off back towards the motel room. Daryl felt glad that Sophia seemed to being feeling better, lord knows that the poor girl needed a break. He bet tomorrow he could take the bange off her foot.

The hunter smiled, and headed to the room after the kids, copletly unware of the eyes that watched him from the bushes.

 **AN: Thank you for reading the newest chapter of my story.**

 **As usual please leave a favorite, follow, and/ or review, so I know that you're all enjoying so far!**

 **And be on the look out of a new chapter of** _ **Birds of a Feather**_ **real soon.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	20. Dreams to Nightmares

**Welcome back everybody to a new chapter of my story! I just wanted to put a trigger warning in the beginning before you all start reading. This chapter features depictions of child abuse, and is pretty horrible in some spots, so be warned.**

 **Enjoy~**

"Sophia, I swear to Christ, I'll leave you for the walkers".

Daryl could see the young girl give him a sinister grin from over the top of his cards. They were in their four round of Uno, and so far, Sophia had beaten Daryl, and Carl, every time. It had only taken Sophia a few minutes of instructions from Carl for her to have the game down to a science. For someone who had never played before she sure was cleaning house.

Sophia ignored Daryl's warning with glee, and slowly placed a _draw four_ card down over the green three that sat atop the pile. She flashed him an innocent smile as he groaned and slipped four cards from the deck into his already large hand.

"Uno". She chirped.

Carl giggled at Daryl's misfortune. The man turned his attention towards the boy, and gave a slight grin of his own. It was his turn to bring hurt. A series for _draw two's,_ and _reverses,_ later left Carl with at least twenty cards in his once small hand. The brutal exchange brought the game back to Sophia. She placed her last card down on the pile with a triumphant smile.

"Beat by a girl, once again!" She exclaimed playfully.

"I'm a proud man". Daryl said. "But I'll admit when I'm beat".

Carl nodded in agreement. Sophia giggled, and was met with a fateful of feathery fluff as Daryl launched a sneak attack. The pillow that he swung burst before it could even reach the girl. She sat on the ground, giggles turning to laughs, covered in white feathers. Sophia looked almost like she could have been an angel masquerading as a child.

The moment of bonding was abruptly interrupted by the sound of glass smashing, and after a few tense seconds, the blaring sound of a car alarm screaming in the lot. Sophia's laughter died in her dry throat as Daryl swore loudly, and raced towards the door. It seemed that for every moment of peace there were five moments of chaos. Sophia found herself almost longing the days before the ending the world. Sure they weren't very good, but at least she knew what to expect.

Daryl flung open the front door, and was met with the smell of burning rubber as the red car peeled out of the lot at top speed. The tires squealed a tone deaf tune as they smacked the pavement. The hunter felt his blood boil. Someone had the nerve to steal their car.

"Hey!"

Daryl barked out a string of threats, so vulgar that his young companions only understood about half of what he said, as he ran after the thief. The redneck frantically loaded up his crossbow, and started taking shots at the window, hoping to hit whoever was inside. He knew that it was stupid to shoot at the vehicle and risk damaging it, but that car was the only one they had, and it was better to damage it than lose it. They'd all have to walk to Fort Benning without it, and he seriously doubted that the two kids could make such a trip in the condition they were in.

A faithful arrow held true to its shoot, and plunged it's sharp head into the back windshield, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. Glass rained down into the road like snow as the car swerved, trying to regain its composure. Daryl lined up another shoot, but by then the car was to far away for him to do anything. The thief had gotten away. The man cussed in a voice so loud Carl and Sophia couldn't help but jump a little.

Daryl hung his head in shame, and marched back towards the motel room. He had let a thief beat him. He thought back to his childhood of roaming the woods. Every time he killed a bird or a squirrel some pesky cat or dog would come waltzing up, and make away with his hunt while was distracted by a passing deer. This situation felt painfully similar, the car thief was the dog, the car was the bird, and the kids were the passing deer. He should have been keeping look out, not humoring children that weren't even his own.

"The car…"

Daryls train of thought was broken by the sound of Sophia's soft voice. It sounded so soft and frail, like someone who hadn't spoken in days. He took a deep breath as he looked it the freighted and expected gazes of the kids. It wasn't their fault the car got stolen, he was after all the one that suggested that they play Uno.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Carl asked, staring at the now empty parking space.

The boy's mind raced with questions as he thought of the new situation. Would they have to walk to Fort Benning? Could they walk? How far even was Fort Benning? The questions all slurred together in his brain to create a short film about all of the dangers the group could meet out on the open road. He saw walkers, bandits, wild animals, and even a few thoughts of soldiers crossed his young mind. Soldiers had stopped being a problem after a few months, like the government just gave up on hunting those they thought were infected.

Meanwhile Sophia was more concerned with how long it would take them to travel now, not how much more dangerous it would be. She was still very much worried about the idea of meeting up with the undead, but all she wanted right now was to be back with her mother.

 _If only I could just grow wings and fly home._

Sophia couldn't help but scoff at her own thought. This was the real world, a world ruled by rotting monsters, not a world where people had wings and could fly.

What really scared Sophia about the whole situation however was how worried Daryl looked. He paced around with his face locked in a scowl at the ground. If Daryl Dixon had a reason to feel upset, everybody had a reason to feel upset.

Eventually Daryl stopped his pacing, and readjusted the crossbow on his back. He needed to clear his head, make a new plan.

"I'm going out". He announced to the surprise of the children.

"Why?"

Daryl shifted his gaze to Sophia. If there was one thing he wouldn't ever get used to it was having to explain himself to the girl every time he wanted to do something. He bit back the "because I can" answer he had ready.

"We need food". He muttered. "Might as well scavenge in daylight".

"Please don't leave, what if whoever stole the car comes back?" She pleaded.

Daryl could see the look of terror shining in Sophia's eyes. He also took notice of the way she started to open and close a three fingered fist at her side. The run in with Jesse had left the girl rightfully afraid of being alone. The hunter wondered if Sophia would ever be able to accept new people into the group?

"You'll be fine. Move rooms if it'll make you feel better". Daryl replied.

He felt a tiny pang of guilt at wanting to leave so badly, but he just really needed some alone time to think.

"What if we have a repeat of the gas station?" Carl asked.

"Don't go out looking for strange noises". Daryl rolls his eyes.

Daryl turned his back on the kids, and stalked off towards the road.

"Just wait for me". He lazily waved his arm at the pair without turning back around. "I'll be back in no time".

Carl could sense Sophia tense up next to him as she thought about going after Daryl. He put his on her delicate shoulder to let her know that it would be a bad move. The boy guided his stressed friend back into the safety of the dingy motel room.

Sophia laid back down onto the lumpy bed to try and get just a little bit more rest. She figured that if she was asleep she wouldn't have to worry about Daryl, and being alone.

Carl watched Sophia readjust the blankets for a moment before he turned his attention towards the door. Even though it was closed and locked he could tell that it wouldn't be safe enough. The old wood and rusted hinges looked like they would give to the force of any walker, or person, that pressed against it.

Carl paced around the room and collect the small bits of furniture littered around. He shoved tiny pillows under the door stop, stuck a small chair under the door handle, and propped an antique looking lamp against the frame. The boy stepped back to inspect his handy work. The newly reinforced door would now resist any weight placed upon it, but Carl wanted to add something heavy for good measure.

He padded over to the bedside to try and move the night stand. For someone big like Daryl it would have been to problem to pick up the object, but for the 12 year old child it came as a little more of a challenge. He struggled to get a good grip on the polished wood with his sweaty hands. Just as the night stand started to give his hands shot out from under it, sending it back the floor with a carpet muffled _thud._

Carl hissed at the sudden burning feeling the friction had given his hands, and buried them deep into his jean pockets.

 _How'd they make this look so easy?_ He thought in frustration.

Carl had watched Shane and his father bring new furniture into their home countless times throughout his short life. He tried to think about what they did to carry heavy things like tables. An image of the boxes they used to bring the house hold items home in flashed across his mind. That was it! The little black stick figures on the packages were always shown carrying with their backs the furniture.

Carl was pleased that his old memories could help him in this situation. He took his hands out of his pockets and wiped them down on his pant leg. Carl was ready for round two. As he moved to crouch beside the nightstand they boy couldn't help but notice Sophia lying in the bed.

She had a blank, yet peaceful, look drawn on her freckled face. The blue fabric on her favorite shirt would rise and fall with each sleeping breath she took. Carl stated at his friends sleeping form, and memorized the details of her body like it was the last time he'd ever see again.

He studied the odd scratch and scrape on Sophia's pale skin, the few bruises that Jesse had left on her arms, and they way her amputated fingers attempted to curl as she slept. Carl looked down at his own arms, and realized just how beat up he had become as well. His attention flickered back to Sophia as she unconsciously flipped onto her stomach. The collar of her blue shirt sagged just enough to reveal a part of her back, just under the nape.

Carl could see the skin in the spot was faint red, almost like an old burn. The girl's skin around the area was raised in a broken spiral pattern that reminded him of the stove tops in his old home.

 _Could it be a burn?_

The question lingered in Carl's mind as he studied the mark further. It looked to be about the same shape and size of a stove top, and also had the telltale signs of a burn, reddened and rises skin. A burn seemed like the only logical answer, but how'd Sophia get it? There was fire at the query, but no actual stove tops, and the boy had never seen Sophia mess with any of the fireplaces around camp.

Carl mentally played out a variety of situations in his head that would explain his friends scar, one in which Sophia lost her balance reaching for something up high, and fell back on a heated cooker. It seemed like an easy mistake to make, and a reasonable answer, but something told if Sophia was a little smarter than that. Not to mention the fact that Carol would never let a situation like that happen.

Carl slowly reached his hand towards Sophia, but paused just short of the mark, having a mental debate with himself. Should he touch her? Would she think it was weird? The last thing that Carl wanted was for Sophia to get mad at him or become uncomfortable, but he needed to see the rest of the scar. He knew that it wasn't his businesses, but something nagged at the boy to make sure his friend was okay. Carl delicately brushed his fingers against the Cotton fabric of Sophia's shirt as he peeled it back every so slightly.

Despite Carl's gentle movements Sophia's sleeping mind picked up on the touch. The peaceful dream world dissolved around the girl, and she was thrown back into a nightmare that she never wanted to relive as long as she lived.

Sophia found herself sitting in her living room, holding a copy of her favorite book _"Holes"._ She read page after page as she sat curled up in a large armchair, and listened the the clock tick absentmindedly from above the TV. Just as she started to become fully engrossed in the story before her the loud slam of a door drew Sophia's attention. Her young heart sunk as she heard heavy footsteps padding around in the kitchen. The two noises only meant one thing.

Daddy was home.

Sophia quickly dog eared the page she was working on, and climbed out of the warm chair. She made quiet beeline for the staircase that would lead her to the safety of her bedroom.

Ed hadn't even been home five minutes, but Sophia could already him digging around the fridge for a beer.

"How was your day"? Carols nervous voice drifted from the kitchen.

Sophia paused mid step, on her way up the stairs, to silently listen for her father's response.

A rough grunt and a loud slam of the fridge door was the only response Carol received.

"I got laid off". Ed growled after a tense moment. "Boss said I'm late too much".

"Oh… I'm really sorry to hear that". She replied cautiously.

"You should be. Seeing how you wasted all the gas in the car".

Sophia f let the fine hairs on the back of her neck stiffen. There was something dangerous about the way her dad spoke.

"I had to go get groceries". Carol countered weakly.

"So you fill up the damn car when you're done!"

"You wouldn't let me take the card… I'm sorry".

"You're gonna be".

Sophia had to fight the urge to book it up the stairs and lock her door as the sound of skin on skin contact rang out from the kitchen. The girl could do little more than sit pressed against the stairs in a quivering heap as she heard the sounds of her own mother being repeatedly struck.

"I'm sorry! Just please stop! I'll won't take the car anymore… I- I can walk!". Carol pleaded.

"I'm sick of you blaming your shit on me!" Eds voice boomed.

The sound of glass shattering drifted into Sophia's ears as her mother's scream echoed. She started to shake at the sound of pained whimpers.

How had such a small thing set him off?

Deep down Sophia knew the answer, she had seen things like this time and time again.

"You don't argue with me". Ed spat. "I'm gonna give you something special, so you never forget that".

Before she knew what she was doing, Sophia snaked her way back down the stairs, away from safety, and into the war zone. The girl peeked into the kitchen, and watched the scene unfold.

Ed stood before Carol with a shard from glass from broken dish clenched tight in his unforgiving fist. Carol tries to shy away as he reached for her arm, but was too slow.

Sophia felt adrenalin surge through her small body as her father yanked her mother off the ground, pressed the glass shard against her wrist. Only a single drop of blood had time to shed before the evil deed was interrupted.

"Stop it!" Sophia yelled, stepping into the kitchen.

The moment Ed's flaming eyes turned to her, Sophia knew that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. He slowly released his iron grip on Carol, and stalked over to her. Sophia wanted to run with every fiber of her being, but found herself unable to. All she could do was stare at her approaching father.

"What did you just say to me?" He asked with venom dripping from his voice.

"I- I…" She stuttered.

Ed crouched down, so close to Sophia's face, that she could smell the stale alcohol and smoke that drifted from his breath. She shuddered.

"I asked you a question". He spat in her face.

Sophia tried desperately to answer, but it was in vain. Her words just seemed to freeze in her throat, creating hard painful lumps.

"Ed…" Carol whispered softly.

"Shut your damn mouth". He snapped. "I won't have my own brat step out of line".

Before she could register what was happening Ed grabbed Sophia by the arm, and hauled her across the kitchen. She let out a pained yelp as her arm become disconnected from its socket with a soft _pop._ Hot tears sprang to her eyes as a searing pain tore through her upper body.

Ed stomped over to the stove, dragging Sophia behind him like she was little more than a ragdoll, and turned one of the black knobs with a small _click._

Panic gripped Sophia's young heart as the red coils heated up. Her father dug his large fist into the front of her place blouse. She shot her mother a pleading look.

 _He wouldn't! He couldn't!_ She thought desperately.

Carol's tired face was a horrible mixture of pity, anger, fear, and helplessness. Sophia's attention was snapped back to Ed as he lifted her clear of the ground. She yelled as he wrapped her fragile legs around his wide frame. The girl tried to bat the dads hands away, but it did little. Like tiny rabbit paws thumping against a fox's thick fur, her swats were nothing but a minor annoyance to Ed.

The man threw one hand behind his daughters back, and dug the other deep into her blonde hair. She sucked in a sharp breath as he tugged at her scalp.

"This'll teach you to disrespect me!" He yelled in anger.

In one swift movement Sophia's worst fear come true. She screamed as the back of her neck connected with the unforgiving heat of the stovetop. Carol cringed at the sound of her suffering child, while Ed merely grinned in a way only a psychopath could.

There was nothing that Carol wanted more than to save Sophia, but Ed would kill them both of she tried. He hadn't ever killed them yet, but the mother knew that today wasn't the day to test him.

Sophia continued to scream as her pale flesh bubbled and fused to the hot coils. Ed applied more pressure to his hold, and a sick sizzling sound filled the room. After a few more seconds Ed decided his punishment was complete, and clicked off the stove.

Fresh tears spilled from Sophia's eyes as he peeled her away from the stove. Large chunks of burned flesh were left behind on the cooling coils. The girl winced as she was dropped onto the hard ground carelessly.

"Clean it up". He spat to Carol as he sulked out of the room.

Sophia simply laid where she had been dropped until her mother came over to examine her wounds, in too much pain to want to move on her own. Her back felt raw and throbbed like a horse had run over it. She was pulled into the closest thing to a sitting position she could manage.

Carol whispered reassuring things in her ear as she tried to get a pee at the damage. She peeled her daughters blouse away from her burnt skin, only to have her let out a another scream.

"Shhh… It's fine, everything's gonna be fine".

Sophia felt another touch on her back. This touch felt different. She screamed once more, this time bolting upright. The kitchen faded away, and so did the pain, as she blinked. The hard floor she sat on turned to soft blankets as her mind came rushing back to her.

Carl sat at the end of the bed with a startled look plastered on his boyish face. She stared back with a look of confusion.

"It's okay". He told her. "Just a dream".

"No, I… I know". She said.

She ran her hands all the way through her hair and down the back of her head. She paused at the base of her neck, and allowed her fingers to dance over the circular scar that rested there.

Carl pretended not to notice her action, but he just had some many darn questions that needed answering.

"How'd you get… It?" He asked hesitantly.

Sophia's gens fell back to her side as she gazed at the boy.

"I tripped". She fibbed.

"Oh".

Carl shifted his weight uncomfortably for a moment before he just climbed off the bed.

"Has Daryl come back yet?" Sophia asked, trying to change the subject.

Carl shook his brown haired head 'no'.

"I would be to worried though" he told her. "Daryl knows what he's doing".

…

"Fuuuuuuuck"

Daryl stared at a walker as he pressed his rotting chest against a rusted chain link fence. He growled his frustrations, and glanced up towards the blazing sun. That was the third time he had passed that damn walker.

Daryl Dixon was lost.

Even Daryl thought the idea was impossible, he hadn't been lost since he was twelve. His mind was just so wrapped up in trying to find a way to keep the kids safe he must've lost his way. Daryl shook his head, taking care of children was really screwing with him.

The redneck gave the reaching a walker a hard kick through the fence before carrying on his way. Daryl picked his way through the dead bushes that lined the road, keeping low, and listening carefully for the sounds of any approaching cars, or footsteps, as he moved along. He looked up and spotted a small mom and pop type looking store in the close distance.

Daryl changed his course and headed towards the shop. Places like that almost always had maps for the annoying tourists and vacationers that just had to come to Georgia. He decided not to waste any energy killing the few walkers that lingered outside, and just snuck around the shambling undead.

The soft jingle of a bell threaten to give Daryl away as he pushed the glass doors to the store open. The man glanced behind him, but the sound seemed to attract no attention from the aimless walkers.

He weaved his way through the looted shelves, towards the back of the building. He knew these crummy little stores kept their registers in the back. It made it easier to shoplift without being caught, but having registers in the back forced people to look at all of their producers as they passed by. Where there were registers there were fliers.

Daryl picked an off white color slip of paper from the array of brightly colored, attention grabbing, promotions. He flipped it open and found exactly what he was looking for. A large picture of of Georgia spread across the map. Daryl traced his finger down until he found the Senoia. A small red mark showed where the store was in the town, smack in the middle of the city.

He groaned in frustration, they hadn't even made it out of the same town as the farm, it would take days of walking to make it to Fort Benning. At least the motel was listed on the map. Daryl memorized the route he would need to take to get back to Carl and Sophia. When he was finished he shoved the paper into his pocket, and turned towards the exit.

On his way back across the store something caught his eye. A blue and white package sat on a lone shelf. Daryl recognized the misshapen cowboy on the box almost instantly.

"Twinkles, huh?" He said aloud.

Daryl shrugged and grabbed the package off the shelf. The snacks might save him some grief from the kids, especially Sophia, for being gone for so long. He crept back outside, and set off on his path once more.

They had a lot of ground to cover in such a short time.

 **AN: Hey everyone, just wanted to say sorry for the lack of updates lately, I've had a serious case of writer's block, missing motivation, and lack of time. Anyway expect a new chapter of** _ **Birds of a Feather**_ **soon too.**

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	21. On The Move

Daryl growled in frustration as he glared up at the setting sun. After hours of following the crappy little gas station map, he had finally made his way back to the motel. The redneck had been gone from sun up to sundown, and was mentally preparing for the lecture he'd get from Sophia. He really hoped that Twinkies would distract her, and stop her from going off on a tangent.

Daryl knocked hard on the door he knew to be theirs and waited for the gentle _click_ of the lock turning. After a few moments of not getting a response, Daryl knocked on the door a few more times, slightly annoyed. However, his annoyance quickly faded and turned into panic when the kids didn't answer to his knocks.

"Carl? Sophia?" He called, jiggling the door knob.

Once again, no response. The door wouldn't give into Daryl's desperate attempts to open it.

"Kids, open the door!"

Daryls mind raced as he wondered what the hell could be keeping them from opening the door. They couldn't have left, the door was still locked and he didn't think that the windows even opened. A walker couldn't have gotten in with the locked door either.

 _What if there was a walker already inside? I just didn't know it._

The horrible thought struck Daryl, what if Sophia's bite hadn't been amputated well enough? There was a chance that the girls bite hadn't been cut off enough to stop an infection. After all, it was done in a poorly lit room by a stressed man with a Bowie knife. His attempts to open the door became more and more desperate as the though sunk in. He couldn't lose both these kids. He just couldn't.

"I'm gonna break this God damn door down!" He yelled into the wood.

Daryl backed up a few paces before he charged at the door at full speed. He heard the lock click, and the door swung open just before he could hit it. The sudden change sent Daryl flying into the hotel room. He collided with a steady bed frame, and feel to the floor with an _oof._

Daryl recovered from the blow quickly, and looked around the room. His panic turned to anger and confusion as he wasn't meet with any undead children. Instead he was meet with to, young, smirking faces.

"And that's for leaving us alone a day". Carl huffed triumphantly.

"Are you serious right now!" Daryl growled. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

"We're sorry to trick you, but do you know how worried _we_ were". Sophia countered. "Where did you even go?"

"I got lost". Daryl admitted,climbing to his feet with a _pop_ of his joints. "Damn it, I'm getting too old for this". He muttered.

"How old?" Carl questioned.

"Older than you need to know". He answered.

Daryl looked at the faces of the children, and sighed. He knew that he couldn't stay mad at them for tricking him, hell he'd have done the same thing in their shoes. He did leave them alone all day, and could see the worry that lingered in their trusting eyes, but it was still a major dick move. He'd need to find a way to get them back.

"At least you're back now". Sophia chimed in. "Did you figure out whatever you needed to?"

"Not really". Daryl sighed. "Kinda got focused in gettin' unlost".

"I don't this you should wander off anymore". She said. "What would we do without you?"

"Well, you certainly wouldn't have these with me, or my wandering off". Daryl grinned, pulling out the box of Twinkies. The two children's young eyes seemed to light up at the sight of the familiar blue packaging. They exchanged brief glances before Daryl handed the box over to them.

Carl turned the box over in his hands, and squinted his eyes as he read the back carefully.

"These are seriously real?" He asked in disbelief.

Daryl nodded, causing Carl and Sophia to exchange another glance, this time one of awe. Their eyes seemed so bright that they could burn a hole through a wooden board.

"Where did you find these?" Sophia asked, smiling. "I can't believe that someone didn't take them!"

"There were at an old gas station" Daryl shrugged. "Nothin' too special".

Carl handed the box back to Daryl after he finding reading it. The hunter ripped open the cardboard flaps, and emptied the boxes contents onto the small table. Ten of the yellow sponge cakes toppled out of the packaging. Daryl pulled three Twinkies out of the pile, and shoved the seven that remained back init their disposable home.

"Now, we're gonna ration these because one: I don't want no one gettin' sick". He couldn't help but gaze at Sophia as he spoke, remembering the previous few nights. She flashed a apologetic grin. "Second," Daryl continued, "You'll both thank me when we have leftover snacks in a few days".

The two kids nodded and gave their thanks as Daryl handed them their treats. They padded back over the the welcoming bed to eat their goods. Daryl sat down in the recliner with a sigh, and a Twinkie of his own. He watched the children flop onto the matters, and begin to talk excitedly about various random things, while they ate. It amazed Daryl how something as simple as a Twinkie could amaze and make the pair so happy. It really made him think about the things people had always taken for granted. Fresh foods, hot running water, real beds, toilets, family, and feelings of security, were the first few things that came to mind. The list really could go on, and on, forever. What Daryl wouldn't give to be able to just go stroll on into town, without having to worry about having his face bitten off. The new works was hard enough to cope with, he couldn't imagine being a child in it.

"Hey, Daryl?"

"Hmm?"

"What are we gonna do tomorrow?"

Daryl sighed, the Twinkie distraction was wearing off, and Sophia was begging to ask questions again. At least he stopped a lecture from happening. He looked up at the girl, trying to decided his answer. They had already lost a full day to being lost, and were now carless. It was time to get a move on.

"We're gonna leave tonight". Daryl said firmly.

"What?!"

Sophia stared at Daryl like he was crazy. It was common knowledge that moving at night was one of the most dangerous things a person could do! She had barely survived her time alone, if she hadn't found the abandoned house, she doubted she'd even be sitting here. She gazed at her boney foot. The bandaged had been removed during the day, and appeared to be healed, besides the long scar she now sported.

"If we leave in a few hours we can cover more ground. This day was already wasted". Daryl explained himself. "Plus the dark will hide us from anyone lookin' fer trouble. Something tells me that car thief wasn't alone".

Carl and Sophia gave Daryl sideways glances as he spoke. Was moving at night really the best option? In truth, Daryl wasn't sure himself, but the sooner they got back to the group, the sooner he could stop being responsible. As much as the redneck liked the kids, he did not want to be responsible for them.

"We'll leave in a few hours. Spend the time gettin' ready. Gather up useful things, rest up, and use the bathroom if you have too". Daryl stated. "You'll never know when we might might find another one". He added.

…

Sophia stood shivering in the dark parking lot as Daryl and Carl scurried about, trying to get the abandoned truck to start. Daryl swore as Carl turned the ignition, again, reviving only a fribble sputter.

"Stop, before we flood it!" Daryl said in frustration.

Sophia sighed, and peered into the shadows. She squinted as a small figure slinked towards her in the darkness. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what was approaching.

Sophia's gasping scream echoed through the parking lot, startling Daryl and Carl. The hunter banged his head off the propped up hood of the truck as he looked up quickly.

"Ow! Damn it! Sophia, is everything okay?" He asked, rubbing his head as he hired around the side of the truck.

Carl popped open the door, and joined Daryl in staring at Sophia's still figure. She sat, hunched over, on the ground, not moving at all.

"Sophia?" Daryl tried again.

Daryl and Carl tensed as Sophia slowly rose. The pair waited with baited breath to see what would happen next. It wasn't like Sophia to not answer.

"I can't believe…" She muttered.

"Can't believe what?" Carl asked cautiously.

Sophia spun on her heels to face the pair. Daryl felt perplexed at the wide grin on her young face, nothing seemed to be wrong. He traced his gaze along her body, looking for whatever caused her alarm. The only thing that was out of place was the lump she held in her arms.

"Look at how cute he is!" Sophia giggled.

The girl held out lump for the others to see. Daryl struggled to make out the shape in the darkness, until it let out a soft _meow._ It was a cat.

"Are you serious?" Carl asked. "We thought something was wrong".

"I'm very serious". She replied. "When's the last time you've seen a real, live, pet?"

Carl considered his friends question. It had been an awfully long time since they had seen something other that birds or walkers. Herschel had the horses, and there was that deer, but Carl felt like this cat wouldn't get him shot.

"Sophia, next time you gasp like that it better be a walker". Daryl warned. "Or you'll wish it was".

Sophia stroked the cat's soft fur, and shot Daryl an apologetic nod. She continued to smile as the animal began to pur.

"Are you gonna give him a name?" Carl asked.

"Oh, no". Daryl interrupted. "No, no, no. We can't keep that thing".

"We can't just leave him!" Sophia argued.

"Yes, we can".

"He'll die all on his own!"

"That's not our problem".

Sophia gave Daryl a pledging look as the cat nuzzled its tiny head against her bony chest. The animals couldn't be more than a few months old, barely an adult.

"Please, Daryl?" The girl tried one more time. "It's no fun to be left all alone. This cat is lost, just like I was. He's probably scared, too".

"Fine," Daryl sighed in defeat. "If it'll get use moving fast, you can bring the damn cat".

"Yes! Thank you!" Sophia beamed. "You won't regret this".

"Already kinda am". He muttered.

"So, what's his name". Carl asked again.

Sophia ran her delicate hands throwing her new companions light fur, trying to think of a suitable name. She considered naming him after a fallen member of the group, like Jim, but found herself to sad by the thought. Sophia wanted to be happy every time she looked at the cat, so she decided on a goofy name.

"Mr. Peebs". The girl announced.

"What in the world is a _Peebs_?" Daryl asked.

"Peebs, like peanut butter. His fur is kinda colored like it". She explained.

"I like it". Carl shrugged. "It's fun to say".

"I'm just glad kids don't pick names for people". Daryl commented, jokingly.

Sophia lifted the small cat up, and draped him around her shoulders like a scarf. He hung around her neck, purring contently. Daryl figured that Mr. Peebs had to have some ragdoll in him. He was small, and skinny as hell, but still had a thick coat. What ever he was, Daryl hoped that Peebs wouldn't be a liability.

The redneck shrugged his thoughts away from the cat, and back towards the truck. He walked back over to the metal monster, to resume his work. The vehicle was more rust than truck, and needed a lot of work with its busted up insides, but if he could get the engine to work none of that would matter. All that really mattered was having a running truck. Daryl tinkered with the wire guts of the machine for what felt like forever, before the vehicle roared to life.

The engine sputtered and wheezed like it was on its last leg, but at least it was running. Daryl turned to call the kids and saw them sitting on the pavement playing with their new friend. Mr. Peebs purred and rolled on the ground as the children showered him with pats and chin scratches. It was kinda cute.

"Yall ready to go?" He asked.

"You bet!" Carl said, leaping up.

"Yup". Sophia answered. Scooping up the cat.

"Then let's go".

…

"Uh, I think you gotta take left up here".

The group had been driving for so long the sun was starting to rise up, for the new day. Carl sat in passenger seat, next to Daryl, holding the gas station map. He had been playing the role of navigator all night.

"You told me that five miles ago, and it got us lost". Daryl said, looking at the road ahead.

"Hey, that was Sophia". Carl reminded him.

"Hey! Don't drag me into this!" Sophia interjected from the back seat.

"What's that sign say?" Daryl asked squinting at the faded sign that lates before them.

"West Georgia Correctional Facility". Carl read aloud.

"What's a correction facility?" Sophia asked.

"It's a nice was of saying prison". Daryl explained.

Daryl turned the truck down the road in front of the sign. According to the map cutting across the area would be the best shortcut to Fort Benning. Normal it would be considered trespassing, but the hunter guessed that lack of law was one of the most convenient aspects of the apocalypse. The truck rattled like it could fall apart at any time as the drive down the long road. The trucks rattling oh got worse as the road switched from pavement to dirt. Daryl watched the large prison take shape as they drew near.

"Look!"

Mr. Peebs mewed in protest as Sophia leaned forward suddenly to point out the windshield. Daryl followed her gaze to what looked like just a clump of abandoned cars, but upon closer inspection he realized something that made his heart jump. A large winnebago sat around the cars. The trio sat in disbelief at what they had stumbled apon.

They had found the group.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


	22. Notes

**Hey guys, welcome back to another chapter of That Damn Deer Girl. Before we start I just want to let you guys know that the prison situation will be a lot like the one in the comics, meaning that it's just Rick's group, and Herschel's family. I just like the idea of the prison being completely abandoned, minus the walkers. Anyways,**

 **Enjoy~**

Carol sat in the courtyard of the prison, watching the walkers roam the fields that lied outside the protective fences. The rotting corpses would spend days wandering around, looking for food, without ever realizing that there were several living bodies in the prison just yards away. The woman fiddled with the black walkie talkie in her delicate hands. Everyday she convinced Rick to let her take the device for a few hours, in the hopes of hearing from Daryl. She was really worried about him and the kids.

"Hey, what's that?"

Carol tilted her head up to look at Glenn from his spot in one of the guard towers. The pizza delivery boy had really stepped up to watch duty after they lost Dale and, supposedly, Shane to walkers at the farm. Glenn did a good job, but he just wasn't the same as the old man.

Carol traced her eyes in the direction that Glenn was pointing, and spotted a busted up looking truck, driving up the road. She stood, gripping the walkie talkie, waiting for the vehicle to draw closer. The mother could hear the footsteps of Rick and Andrea, as they rushed outside, trying to see what the commotion was about.

"Who is it?" Rick asked.

"I have no idea". Glenn yelled back.

"I've never seen that truck before". Andrea commented.

"It's so beat up". Glenn replied. "I'm surprised that it's even running!"

The old truck sputtered to a stop, yards outside the fence. The doors popped open one by one, and three figures climbed out. One figure was noticeably larger than the other two. Carol squinted at the trio, thinking what seemed impossible.

"I can't be…" Andrea muttered.

Apparently Carol wasn't the only one having the seeming impossible thoughts.

"Sophia!" She blurted, taking off towards the fence.

Sophia turned her head towards the sound of her mother's voice. The girl broke into a wide grin as she saw her running towards the large gate that separated the prison court yard from the outside world.

"Mama!"

Time seemed to slow down as Carol prayed the stubborn gate open to reunite with her child. Sophia was tackled and pulled into rib crushing hug. The child relished in the warmth of the embrace, taking in everything that she could. The soft feel of mother's shirt, the familiar smell of her hair, the cold touch of her loving hands, and many other things that Sophia hadn't noticed before. She had been happy be reunited with Carol after her time in the woods, but this time it felt more real. Like she wouldn't be leaving the group, or her mother, again.

Carl watched Sophia and Carol embrace, crying and smiling, before he was pulled into a hug of his own. Rick wrapped his strong arms around Carl, and gave him a back cracking squeeze.

"I was so worried about you". Rick whispered.

"I know". Carl replied. "I was worried about you, too".

Rick pulled out of the embrace, and ruffled Carl's brown hair with his calloused hand. The reunion between the father and son was nowhere near as emotional as the one between the mother and the daughter, but it meant just as much.

"I'll go get Lori". Andrea volunteered, before bustling off.

Daryl stood watching the displays of affection, shifting his weight uncomfortably. Emotions had never really been his forte. He tried to slip away from the scene, but was stopped by a tearful Carol. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her head into his chest.

"Thank you. Thank you so much". Carol said tearful. "You've kept my little girl safe for a second time".

"Wasn't nothin'" Daryl muttered.

"Are you kidding? I own you everything". She responded. "I would have a family left of it weren't for you, Daryl".

"It was really no problem". He said. "I couldn't just leave your kid to die".

Daryl reached his arm out, and dragged an overjoyed Sophia into the hug.

"The kid's grown on me".

The happy move of the situation suddenly turned, however, as Carol reached out to take her daughter's hand, only to Draw back in horror at what she saw.

"Sophia!" Carol gasped. "What happened to your hand?!"

Carol grabbed Sophia's hand, and stared in horror at her remaining three fingers.

"I got bit". Sophia confessed before she could stop herself.

"What?!"

All eyes were on Sophia now. Lori Drew Carl closer as Rick rested his hand on the gun attached to his belt. Sophia eyed the weapon with large eyes. He would never use that on her, would he? Tears spilled from Carol's eyes as she hugged her daughter close.

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry". She sobbed. "I'm sorry I wasn't there".

Everyone seemed at a loss for words. Andrea and Glenn merely watch while Lori held a protesting Carl. He could inform the group that Sophia was okay if it wasn't for his mother's iron grip.

"It's okay, mama". Sophia whispered. "I'm okay".

"Sophia…" Rick said softly. "I knew that this isn't what you want to hear, but you're gonna get sick".

"I'm not". Sophia said. "Daryl saved me".

"Daryl?"

Everyone's attention shifted from Sophia to Daryl. The hunter felt uncomfortable with all the sudden eyeing. Emotion was bad enough when it wasn't directed at him.

"Did you really?" Carol asked in a whisper.

"Yeah". Daryl muttered.

"He had to cut my fingers off". Sophia told them.

"Oh, baby". Carol patted her child's back.

"You poor thing". Lori said.

"It's not that bad anymore". Sophia said. "And my foots healed too".

"That's my brave girl". Carol smiled.

"Why don't you go see Herschel, just make sure you're really okay". Rick suggested.

"Then you should grab some rest while you can". Lori chimed in. "You too". She added to her own child.

"Yeah, I'm sure that you've been through a lot". Rick added.

"You have no idea". Daryl muttered.

"You should get some rest too, Daryl". Carol said.

"I don't need no nap". He replied. "I can take Glenn's place for watch".

"No, you're going to rest". Carol responded quickly, in a mother's trademarked tone.

Daryle opened his mouth to argue, but quickly shut it when he laid eyes on Carol's expression. Her cropped grey hair allowed the hunter to perfectly see her furrowed brow. He knew that the look was challenging him to argue, but he just couldn't find it in him. Something about Carol just captivated Daryl, he could never argue with her.

"Fine". He sighed.

The group slowly clumps and went back to their own various activities as Carol led Daryl, Carl, and Sophia into the prison. They moved at a slow pace, dragging their feet along the dirt, before Sophia suddenly straightened up her back with a small gasp.

"What is it?" Daryl asked, snapping into a defensive mode.

"Mr. Peebs!" She said. "I left him in the car".

" ?" Carol asked, confused.

"Oh yeah." Daryl half groaned. "She found a cat, and named it ".

"It's a fitting name". Carl added.

"She's definitely my child". The mother smiled.

"I'm gonna go grab him". Sophia said.

Daryl put his hand on Sophia's shoulder as she turned to walk away. She flinched as her turned her around. It was a small flinch, but it didn't go unnoticed by Daryl.

"Not so fast, girly". He said. "You just came back again. The last thing that you're gonna do is go off on your own".

"I won't be on my own". She replied. "Glenn'll be able to see me".

Daryl considered the girl's words for a moment. It was true that she'd be under the asians 'watchful" eye. Also, he was back with Carol now. He didn't have to set the rules for the children anymore.

"Carol?" Daryl asked, looking for what to do next.

"You've been through alot lately…" Carol said slowly, considering her own reasons. "But, I trust you. We'll wait here, just don't dawdle".

Sophia nodded before turning once more, and taking off back towards the gate. The gravel crunched under her sneakered feet as she moved.. The girl had gotten so used to being chased by the living dead that she found herself looking around while she ran. She gave a small wave to Glenn as she passed by the watchtower.

She approached the beaten down truck to find the fluffy Mr. Peebs, basking on the torn up dashboard. A small wave of heat hit Sophia as she opened the door, and she felt a small pang of guilt for having forgot the cat for a few moments. Mr. Peebs hadn't been shut in the truck for long, but the sun in Georgia was nothing to mess with.

" _Mrrraawww?"_

Mr. Peebs lifted his head in a lazy curiosity as Sophia popped open the truck door.

"Hey, buddy". She whispered to him. "Sorry I forgot you. You're not mad, are you?"

The girl got her answer as she reached towards the cat. He responded to her touch with a loud, vibrating, purr. She smiled as Mr. Peebs head butted her pale hand, in an attempt to receive more pats.

"Good". Sophia smiled.

Sophia reached all the way into the truck, and pulled the apathetic Peebs out of the vehicle. She let out a small giggle as he used his small claws to climb up her side. Importantly to him the most comfortable place to sit was draped around the child's neck, like some kind of purring scarf.

Sophia gave Peebs a quick ear scratch, and turned to walk back to the others. However, she stopped in her tracks when she spotted a small scrap of paper stuck under one of the truck's front tires. Her furry companion mewed indebtedly as she bent down to investigate the paper. She turned it over to find that a message, scrawled in messy handwriting, covered the sheet. Her heart skipped a couple beats as she read what had been written.

" _That's a mighty cute cat, friendly too"._

A stone formed in the pit of Sophia's stomach. Something about this letter already didn't feel right. Nobody in the group could have left this, they didn't know about Mr. Peebs yet! And even if they did, why would they leave her a note where she might not even find it? She continued on reading,

" _I can't see your face right now, but I'm sure it's priceless. Don't be so surprised, I'm always close, closer than you think"._

Sophia couldn't help but look around nervously. The letter took way, way, too quick of a turn to be from one of the group members. The aggressive nature of the words made her feel uneasy. The girl snapped to attention at the sound of a car engine sputtering in the distance. The urge to scream washed over her as she watched a car speed away from the prison.

A red car.

Sophia looked up at the guard tower with wild, pleading, eyes. Glenn had to have seen that. She couldn't have been the only one, she couldn't have. Her breath quickened as she saw that Glenn was no longer in his tower. Out of all the times to take a break, why'd it have to be then?

She looked back to the car, now in the distance, and noticed that another note had drifted from an opened window. She carefully walked over, looking over her shoulder in paranoia. When Sophia picked up the second letter, it was worse than the first one.

" _Tell anyone, and I'll take them all. Nice seeing you again, Samantha"._

There was only one person who knew her as the fake name Samantha.

Sophia's vision near tunneled as her mind spun with images and thoughts of being alone. Only this time there would be no way to get her family and friends back. She was scared at the idea of Jessie watching, but the idea of someone dying because of her, because she didn't follow what he wrote, scared her more. The girl couldn't let people get hurt because of her.

Sophia crumpled up the two notes, and shoved them into her pocket. She gave Peebs another quick ear scratch, before turning and heading off back towards where the others were waiting.

She didn't know if it was the right thing to do, but for now Sophia was gonna follow the letter. Hopefully Jesse would just leave them alone.

Hopefully.

 **AN:** Alright guys, thank you all for waiting through the long periods with no new chapters being posted. I've been pretty busy lately with midterms, but just know that I haven't forgotten about my readers.

If you're enjoying the story so far please feel free to leave a follow, favorite, and/ or review. And once again, thank you all for your continued support.

 **Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~**


End file.
